


Hot Water

by ScienceFantasy93



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: Awkwardness, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Kendall's over-protective of Katie, Mild Language, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:04:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScienceFantasy93/pseuds/ScienceFantasy93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the guy Katie likes asks out another girl, she decides to make him jealous by having James pretend to be interested in her. But throw in an overprotective big bro, a jealous girl, sudden feelings, and James and Katie may just end up in hot water...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Always the Little Sister

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote over a year and a half ago and posted it on Fanfiction.net. Since then, I've decided to begin moving my stories over to AO3. Hope you guys enjoy the story!

**Chapter 1 – Always the Little Sister**

**Katie's POV**

I was so not happy.

I had been waiting for Kyle for a whole ten minutes, and he had yet to show. I mean, how hard is it to just jump in the Palmwood's elevator and come down to the pool? You'd think he was living across the country or something, considering how long he was taking. And you know what was even more annoying? He was the one who asked  _me_  to meet _him_! I mean, what was his deal?

I squirmed a bit in my chair and looked around the pool. There was Guitar Dude, strumming away on his guitar by the pool. The Jennifers were at a table on the other side of the pool, sipping smoothies and chatting about whatever it is that they chat about. And then over at one of the other picnic tables James was playing checkers against Logan, who had his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Camille, in his lap.

My older brother, Kendall, and the [fourth](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7095392/1/Hot-Water) and final member of the group formerly known as Big Time Rush, Carlos, weren't in sight, nor was Camille's best friend, Jo, but that didn't surprise me in the least. Kendall and Jo had broken up a few days ago, and ever since then, Kendall had been locked in his room, listening to his iPod nonstop (no doubt to a bunch of depressing songs that makes the listener want to slit their wrists), and Jo had been throwing herself into her TV show. Carlos had discovered a restaurant that sold only corn dogs, so he had been there every day for a week, pigging out until he couldn't eat anymore. So he would be home around midnight.

I heaved a heavy sigh and pulled [my phone](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7095392/1/Hot-Water) out of my pocket to check the time. It was 1:20, and Kyle was supposed to meet me at 'our' table by the pool at 1:00. Where was he?

Well, the only way to find out was to text him.  **Where r u?**  I typed in and sent it off to him. A moment later my phone vibrated, alerting me that I had a new message. I opened it to find his response:  **Sorry, completely blanked on the time. I'll b there in a minute (:**

He better be. I hated being blown off, especially by the guy that I had liked for four years. We had first met when I was thirteen and it was love at first sight, at least for me. But after James crashed our date, he seemed to kind of lose interest in being romantically involved with me. Which means we are the dreaded F word:  _Friends_. Ah, the curse. I know it so well. It's followed me around my entire life. Boys never want to be date me, only to be friends. And yeah, I mean, I'm kind of a tomboy and I live in an apartment full of twenty-one year old guys, each of whom has no problem with punching people in the face, but really? Am I really that hideous?  _Grrrrrr_ …

My legs were beginning to cramp and my butt was beginning to protest, so I stood up and walked over to where James and Logan were sitting, each staring intently at the checkers board. It looked like Logan was kicking James's ass, which didn't surprise me in the least. It's the kind of thing that Logan's good at, him being Mr. Brainiac and all that, and James is…well…James. I'm always shaken when I see James without a mirror and comb in hand. Which means seeing him so focused on something other than his hair was enough to make me trip over my feet.

I caught myself before I slammed into the table and James, Logan, and Camille are looked up to stare at me.

"What?" I asked innocently. "James doesn't have his mirror or comb in sight, it's enough to throw anyone off of their balance."

Logan cocked his head. "That is true," he admitted while Camille smirked and James glared at us.

"I'm not  _that_  vain!" he roared

"James, your hair is messed up," Logan told him with a completely straight face.

James gasped and whipped his mirror and comb out from wherever he had been hiding it. A split second later he lowered both to shoot Logan a death glare. "My hair is  _perfect_. Like always."

"Oh, but you're not vain at all," I teased him. "I mean, everyone hides a mirror and comb under the table so that they can fix their hair in the middle of a checkers game."

"You make it sound like it's insane or something," he complained.

"Oh, don't worry, I can't tell insanity from sanity, since I've grown up around you guys, so I don't know if you're crazy or not."

" _Katie Knight_  – !" James began in a do-not-piss-me-off voice. I knew it well.

Luckily, at that moment, I saw Kyle walk out from the lobby and I quickly backtracked towards the table. "Can't talk, gotta go, see ya later!"

I reached the table just as Kyle approached it. "Hey Katie, sorry I'm late," he apologized with one of his sweet smiles, and I couldn't help but return the grin.

"No problem, I was just hanging out with the guys."

"Yeah, I heard James shout at you."

"He's over-emotional."

"I caught that."

We sat down in chairs opposite each other and he grinned lopsidedly. I remember being completely in awe at how cute he was when he was thirteen, but four years later he was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. He had really filled-out, and his brown hair flopped into his dark eyes. The only guy who could compete with him when it came to looks was James Diamond, and I was so not bringing him into the picture.

"So, you said you wanted to meet me?" I confirmed, referring to the text that he had sent me earlier that morning.

"Yeah," Kyle said, and leaned forward, his eyes glittering. "So, you know that new girl who's going to be co-starring on my show?"

Uh oh…

"Yeah…" I said slowly. Kyle was the star of one of the hottest TV shows,  _Farlington Falls_ , and there were always pretty girls guest starring on the show. But last night when we had talked on the phone he hadn't been able to shut up about the new girl, Scarlett, or whatever the hell her name is.

"Well, I texted her this morning and she said she'd really like to get to know me outside of the show, so we're going to dinner and then to a movie –  _Kiss and Tell 3_. Isn't that awesome?"

If he defined awesome as feeling as if someone was twisting your insides around and then trying to yank them out of your body, then yes, it was very awesome. If he meant it by the traditional meaning, then no, it absolutely sucked!

But I couldn't tell him  _that_! Not when he was so excited to be going out with Scarlett anyway, otherwise I might have finally gotten up the nerve to ask if he would mind replacing her with, oh, say,  _me_. Of course, he would probably just laugh and think that I was joking, so I was better off keeping my mouth shut. It was like something from a Taylor Swift song. I wonder if she had been secretly watching my interactions with Kyle…

But I knew I had to pretend for Kyle's sake (and mine), so I squealed, clapped my hands together, and gushed, "That is so fantastic Kyle! Sounds like you're going to be having fun tonight."

He smirked. "Oh, I know. You should see her K, she's gorgeous." As opposed to me. "And," he continued on, "she's Jett Stetson's little sister."

My jaw dropped. "Jett Stetson has a little sister?" Now there was irony for you. Jett was Jo's costar and she had been photographed with him constantly ever since breaking up with my brother. Did the Stetsons just have it in for us Knights or something?

"Yeah…but she's nothing like him," he added quickly, seeing the look of repulsion on my face. "She's actually really nice."

Right, the same way Jett was nice. He was a total sweetheart to Jo, but was a jackass to everyone else. I was betting Scarlett was the same way.

"That's totally awesome!" I managed to get out, sounding like an over-perky cheerleader in some cheesy teen movie. And here I am, without any pom-poms…

"Yeah, isn't it?"

He leaned back in his chair, arms folded behind his head. "Ahhhh…It's good to be me."

And it sucks to be me.

"Anyway, are you ever going to date anyone?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah, probably once I go off to college," I told him. "No one around here is really my type."

Kyle frowned. "Aren't you going to that business college that Arthur Griffin owns? That's right here in LA."

"Well, yeah, but I'll finally meet some new guys," I said in my most chipper voice.

"Oh, that's cool." He flashed me the double thumbs-up sign and another grin. He looked so adorable leaning back in his chair all casually as if he just didn't care. God, I'm pathetic.

His phone suddenly chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Scarlett wants to meet me right now, to run lines. She's nervous about the scene. That is so cute!" That wasn't exactly the word I would have used, but then again, if I had said what I was thinking, I probably would have had to rinse my mouth out with soap and water.

Kyle's fingers flew over his phone's keyboard as he replied. "The scene she wants to go over is the one where she accidentally runs into me and then she kisses me to apologize."

"So she's playing a slut?" I couldn't help but quip.

"Of course not! Her character is just very free-spirited."

"Right, of course, I should've known."

"Anyway, she's coming over here right now, she was in the neighborhood anyway."

How about that. What a coincidence.

"So I should get out of your hair?" I suggested, feeling my heart sink down into my stomach.

He smiled sweetly at me. "If you don't mind Katie. Sorry, it's just, you know…"

"I know, I know, pretty girl and all that," I said, trying to act as if I didn't really care that he was blowing me off for Jett Stetson's little sister. One day I might actually get used to this, and then it won't bother me so much. But right about then I could literally feel my heart breaking. "Don't worry about it, I'll find something else to do, it's not a problem."

I got to my feet, just as a female voice called, "Kyle! There you are!"

I caught sight of a pretty blond girl rushing towards Kyle, a wide, toothy beam stretching across her face. Geh. He wasn't kidding. She really was beautiful, with large blue eyes, tanned skin, and the kind of body that most of the female population in LA would kill for.

"Scarlett! Hey there babe!"

Dang. He never calls  _me_  'babe'.

I backed away, wanting to get away from there as quickly as I could, but I guess my escape didn't go unnoticed, because I heard Scarlett say to Kyle, "Darling, who was that?"

_Darling_? Really? What is this, the 1940s?

"Oh, that's just Katie. She's like my sister."

Ow. That one hurt.

I could feel an ocean of anger pooling in my stomach, and I wanted more than anything to make Kyle jealous, and show him that I wasn't completely undesirable to the male population. But how?

A yell from James's and Logan's table caught my attention. James was sitting in his chair, face in his hands, while Logan did a little happy dance in his seat with Camille still in his lap, clinging to him so that she didn't slide onto the floor. Logan was grinning madly, like an evil scientist about to perfect a ten-foot-tall-car-eating monster. "You have four pieces left James. I can't wait to see how you're going to get out of this."

"I hate you," James moaned pathetically from behind his hands. He sounded just as desperate as I felt, and suddenly I felt terrible for him. He was about to lose checkers to Logan again and I had just lost Kyle to another girl.  _Again_.

And just like that, a light bulb seemed to flash on in my head. It was perfect. Even better, it could actually work.

I strolled towards the table, ready to prove myself to everyone.

* * *

**James's POV**

I was being beaten ruthlessly by Logan, and nothing, not even my fabulous hair, could save me now. Of course, my fabulous hair generally only works on girls, so it wouldn't have worked on Logan anyway. Well, it might've, if he was gay, but considering the unmistakable fact that Camille was in his lap, he seemed pretty straight to me. Damn.

"I hate you," I groaned, sounding pathetic even to myself.

Logan smirked. "Yeah, I know, but it is so worth it. It's your turn."

I dropped my gaze to my pieces. They were spread out on the board, and within a couple of less-than-smart moves, they would be taken by Logan's pieces. I was so screwed. I needed a miracle, a tornado or something, to suddenly hit the checker board and move our pieces around so that I could get the upper hand.

I glanced up at the sky. No weird-looking clouds, so I guess the tornado-idea was out. Well, in that case,

maybe I could yell "OH MY GOD! Is that Blake Lively?" and then dump the game board over and spring from my seat and run like hell. Yeah, that sounded like my best option.

Okay, so on the count of three.

One…

Two…

"Want some help?"

I tumbled right off the chair in complete shock. I hadn't even heard the girl walk up.

"Damn it Katie! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I griped as I picked myself up off the ground and plopped back in the chair, crossing my arms and giving her my best angry face.

She wasn't even scared. Not surprising. That girl's the bravest little thing I've ever met. Also the most conniving and manipulative, but we won't get into that.

She stared right back at me, dark eyes like steel brownies, crossing her arms over her chest. "So?"

"So what?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

Logan now looked slightly concerned, probably because Katie could very easily give him a run for his money and he didn't want me accepting her help when he was so close to winning, but I didn't pay any attention to him. I gazed back at Katie. I was sure she could help me beat Logan, but I had no idea why she would take an interest in our game.

"What's in it for you?"

"Let me sit in your lap."

That sent Camille off into peals of laughter, and Logan lost his concerned look and instead started chortling. I guess the look on my face must have been pretty alarmed, otherwise Camille and Logan wouldn't have started laughing like that, but give me a break. The girl is seventeen and I'm twenty-one. That's a full four year difference, and she also happens to be my best friend's baby sister. As you can see, I have two very good reasons to be freaked out by what she had just said. Plus, she's like my little sister, so that just adds to the weirdness.

Katie gave me a long stare. "I'm serious. And no, I don't like you like that! I just want to make Kyle jealous." She nodded her head towards where Kyle was sitting at the table he and Katie usually sit at. Across from him was a stunning blond. It was amazing I hadn't noticed her earlier.

"Wow," I intoned, raising my eyebrows at Logan, who had mirrored the movement and gave a low whistle. Camille promptly slapped him across the face and he quickly assured her that she was the most beautiful girl in the whole of California. Katie just raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything.

"That's Scarlett Stetson, Jett Stetson's sister. She's starring on Kyle's show, where she runs into him and kisses him."

Camille frowned. "Isn't that a bit slutty?"

Katie smiled bitterly. "No, apparently she's just free-spirited. But that's the scene they're going to act out."

I glared at Kyle and Scarlett. Katie had had a crush on Kyle for four years, and ever since I kind of happened to mess up their first 'date' he hasn't been interested in her as more of a friend. Which I guess is pretty much my fault, but in my defense they were going to go see this movie that was completely inappropriate for thirteen year olds! It was supposed to be the hottest make out movie of the year! I mean, with that kind of action in it, what was I supposed to do? So yeah, I had followed them around with the girl I had asked out, and had gone so far as to buy four tickets to  _Unicorn Princess_ , a more  _age-appropriate_  movie. Of course, the girl hadn't been too thrilled and had promptly dumped me. Katie and Kyle had backed out of  _Kiss and Tell_ , and had spent the evening playing video games in the lobby, but I guess the damage was done. Kyle had lost all romantic interest in Katie, but had remained friends with her. She had always hoped that he would one day see her as a potential girlfriend, but that didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon.

But wow…They were going to do a kissing scene right here at the pool? No wonder she wanted to make him jealous. And chances were Kendall wasn't going to be coming out of his room anytime soon. He could get a college degree in moping.

I heaved a huge sigh but nonetheless patted my lap. "Sure Katie, you can sit in my lap. Just help me beat Logan."

She sat down in my lap and I put an arm around her waist to steady her. She leaned forward to study the board, giving me a fantastic view down her shirt, which I refused to admire. She was practically my baby sister; it would just be creepy to try to get a good look down her bra.

Logan smirked, no doubt knowing just what I was thinking, and I glared at him. It wasn't my fault Katie was positioned in such a way that I had to stare in the opposite direction if I didn't want to stare at her cleavage. But something told me that Logan wasn't going to be accepting that explanation anytime soon. He was too busy being amused at my every move.

Katie straightened up and smiled, completely ready with a sinister plan to dominate Logan at checkers. "Okay James, this is what you're gonna do…"

With her directions, I managed to get out of Logan's trap and got in a few good moves. It wasn't long before I had him slumped in defeat.

"King me," I said in triumph as I moved one of my pieces over to Logan's side of the board. He grimaced but slapped one piece on top of the other.

Within a few more minutes I had won the game.

"Thanks Katie," I said with a grin. "I owe you one."

She flashed me a smile. "I'll be holding you to it."

"JAMES!" I nearly fell of the chair again, but Katie's weight held me down.

Kendall came storming out from the lobby and over to where I was sitting. "WHY IS MY BABY SISTER ON YOUR LAP?"

Oh shit.

"Dude," I said as calmly as I could, holding my hands in the air like I was being arrested, "it's not what you think. She was just helping me win the game."

"Oh really," Kendall said coldly. "Is that what she's doing?" He turned his attention onto Katie, who shrugged.

"Well, where else was I supposed to sit? All the other chairs were taken. I was just trying to help James."

"Yeah man, trust me, I'm not making any moves on your sister, she's too young for me."

Kendall ignored me. "Katie, get off of James's lap."

She wordlessly slid off. By this time the entire pool, including Kyle and the blonde, were staring at us, waiting eagerly for whatever was going to happen next.

Kendall grabbed the collar of my t-shirt and yanked me to my feet. "I know you James," he hissed. "And I know that as long as a girl is hot, you'll sleep with her. And that girl is _not_  going to be my baby sister!"

And before I had a chance to assure him that I would never lay a hand on Katie, he pushed me right into the pool.


	2. Sense and Un-Sensibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a story I wrote over a year and a half ago and posted it on Fanfiction.net. Since then, I've decided to begin moving my stories over to AO3. Hope you guys enjoy the story!

**Chapter 2 – Sense and Un-sensibility**

**Katie's POV**

James was not happy with me. I followed him back up to 2J, although I had to take the stairs because he got into the elevator and didn't bother to leave it open for me. When I got up to the [apartment](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7095392/2/Hot-Water) I found him soaking wet (not surprising since, you know, he had been shoved into a pool by my brother) and still in a complete rage.

He pulled his sopping shirt off and threw it on the kitchen floor before turning to face me.

"So is that what you wanted?" he spat. "For Kendall to make a scene and grab Kyle's attention? Because I'm sure he noticed you sitting in my lap. I mean, who didn't notice?" He laughed bitterly at the end of that sentence.

I leaned calmly against the door. "James, I didn't set you up, I'd never do that. I had no idea Kendall would decide to come out of his room. If I'd known that I never would have approached you."

His face softened as he realized what I was saying. He paused and it gave me time to check out his body. It's not like I've never seen him shirtless, but I'm usually being yammered at by Kendall or Mom about something or other, so I'm usually slightly distracted. But whoa…Washboard abs, well-defined muscles…he was basically a girl's dream guy. Well, he would be anyway if he wasn't so concerned about his appearance.

"It doesn't matter though," he said. "I should never have agreed to that."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like it was a big deal. People sit on other people's laps all the time."

"But it could have been. It could have gotten out of hand. You are aware that when you leaned forward I could see down your shirt?"

Whoa. He'd been able to? I could feel my face growing hot. "I – sorry, I had no idea."

"I didn't think so. Katie, you're too young for me, and honestly, you're like my little sister."

I sighed impatiently. "James, I already know all this. And I don't have feelings for you!" Okay, that was a lie…a really big one. But I couldn't go around holding up a  _I <3 James _sign, now could I? He can never know.

"Okay, okay," he said. "I'm just making sure."

My phone suddenly vibrated, and I quickly pulled it out. "Sorry, it's a text from Kyle," I told James, and quickly opened it:  **Katie, WTF? James Diamond is 4 yrs older than u & he's a playa! What r u even thinking? Was he hitting on u or something? I mean, y were u even in his lap? BTW, the scene went great!**

GRRRRR! That did not work. Or…maybe it did…

"Kyle thinks it's creepy that I was in your lap, and he thinks you were hitting on me, and I think he's jealous," I gushed to James. He did the double thumbs-up sign.

"Good. Does this mean we'll never have to do this again?"

"Actually…"

James plopped down on the couch. "Actually what, Katie?"

"Well, I mean, if he's already this freaked out, then imagine what it would be like if, I don't know, he saw us hanging out together a couple of times."

"You want us to  _fake date_?  _Are you out of your freaking mind_?"

"Not fake date," I insisted. "Just hang out, maybe look cozy, pretty basic stuff."

"Katie, Kendall threw me into the pool because you were on my lap. If we look anymore 'cozy' he's going to do serious damage to my face. And my face is my lifeline. Nothing can happen to The Face."

See what I mean about him being vane?

I plopped down on the couch beside him. "James, it's not like we're going to be making out in public! Just…I don't know…treat me like you like me. As more than a friend, I mean," I added incase he tried to say that he already treated me like he likes me.

"Katie, your brother is dangerous! And you're my friend! And you're also four years younger than me!"

"So?" I said with a shrug. "This is Hollywood. Women who are in their early twenties and men in their mid thirties are always dating. It's not really a big deal."

"Katie, you're seventeen. You're underage. And I'm legal. I can go into a bar and order as many drinks as I can down. You can't even get into a club."

"I can get into a teen club," I protested. "And it's not like I'm asking you to take me bar-hopping. Just hang out with me a little more."

James groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Has it occurred to you what the tabloids are going to say? I'm fair game in any magazine, but you…Katie, you're Kendall Knight's little sister. If someone gets a photograph of us coming out of a restaurant or something together, the entire town will be talking. It could very easily turn into a scandal. They'll say we're sleeping together, and then you'll be classified as a slut. And then what'll Kyle think?"

"That I need to be saved and that he's the one to do it?" I suggested.

James face palmed. " _No_! He'll think that you've gone crazy and he shouldn't be around you anymore. The publicists of that show he's on won't want him to be seen with you, because it'll be bad for his reputation. Katie, if he can't like you for who you, then he's not worth it. You shouldn't have to pretend

to be with a guy just to get his attention."

I sprang to my feet. "Be that as it may I still like him! I might even love him! And now I'll never know because you won't help me!" With that I stomped out of the living room and to my bedroom, making sure to slam the door shut.

I threw myself on my bed. One thing about me is that I have anger issues. I tend to explode with rage, but I usually calm down fairly quickly. And I was already beginning to breathe normally again.

As much as I hated to admit it, what James said had made sense. If Kyle couldn't have feelings for me right now, then who was to say that he would suddenly decide I was the girl of his dreams if James and I did start hanging out together more often? And there was every chance that the tabloids would make me out as a slut. James was infamous for having a new girl on his arm every week, and did I really want to be one of them? Hell no!

I would just have to satisfy myself with admiring Kyle from afar and maybe start looking at guys a little more often. Maybe I could even find someone who liked me for me and didn't see me as a sister. And preferably wore a purity ring. That wasn't one of my requirements, but Kendall would kill anyone who I dated who wasn't wearing one. Hmmm…that might be one of the reasons why he didn't like Kyle…

I realized suddenly that I had yet to text Kyle back, but I had no idea what to say to him.  _Hey, yeah, James wasn't hitting on me, I was just sitting in his lap to make you jealous because I like you so much and I wanted to be the one who you were practicing the kissing scene with instead of that bitch. Wanna go out tonight_? Hah, yeah, I was totally going to say that.

I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face in my pillow. This whole situation just sucked. How is it that every good looking guy around here only thinks of me as a little sister? I mean, both Kyle  _and_  James? How did I get that unlucky? I must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve this sort of punishment. I must have been a greedy queen with a whole bunch of lovers who order people's heads to be chopped off when they didn't do what she wanted them to do. And now I was reaping the retribution. Life is so unfair.

The deal with James is that he's one of those guys who you can never have, who'll never look at you twice, but you can't help but fantasize about him.

He's turned into the band's bad boy, and is a complete womanizer. He's the guy who fathers never want their daughters to date and is the guy who every girl runs Google searches for pictures of him shirtless. Not that I've ever done that…

I can't even count how many girlfriends he's had since he turned eighteen. Logan and Camille have been on-again-off-again since they were sixteen, and they've dated other people in-between their on-again phases, but they always end up together in the end. Kendall and Jo dated for five straight years, but they broke up because…well…we're not completely sure what they broke up over. Kendall won't tell anyone. And then there's Carlos, who has dated a few girls, but is usually totally and completely single. And finally we've got James who dates girls for a couple of weeks, sometimes for a month if they're interesting and good at meeting his…ahem…needs…but then he dumps them and moves on to the next pretty face.

He's proud of his status as heartbreaker of the group and is able to work it to his advantage. He's drop-dead gorgeous and he knows it. With a flash of a slow, sexy smile he could get girls to kneel at his feet. I guess he doesn't have much respect for the girls he dates, and considering his reasons for turning down my proposition, I should be glad for it. It just proves that he respects me more than his girlfriends. But that still doesn't help my situation…or the fact that I am a hormone-driven teenage girl who can't help but notice his washboard abs and large, hazel eyes. Okay, okay, focus on Kyle, focus on Kyle…If James wasn't going to help me with the whole Kyle problem…Well…guess I'll just have to figure this out on my own…

I pulled my phone out and stared at Kyle's text. There was no way in hell I was going to tell him that I had been trying to make him jealous, but I guess I should reassure him that nothing was going on between James and me.

I quickly typed out the message:  **Haha, wow, big overreaction on your part! Nope, nothing's going on w/James & me, I was just helping him beat Logan at checkers & there was nowhere else 2 sit. Umm…yay for you guys! Listen, when do u have 2 meet her for your date 2nite? Would it be possible 4 me 2 see u before? I have something 2 tell u**.

There. Now I just had to wait for his text back. If he had some free time before his date then I would tell him how I felt about him. If he didn't then I'd keep my feelings to myself.

He was much quicker at texting me back then I had been, and within a minute my phone's screen was lighting up with  _1 New Message_. I opened it and read his text:  **Oh, that's good, that'd be creepy if he was hitting on you. I mean, u guys r like bro & sis, right? ;) anyway, yep, not a problem, I'm meeting Scarlett at 7, but I have some free time beforehand. Want 2 meet in the lobby in an hour? I promise 2 be on time this time ;P**

So that was it. It was time to tell him. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I texted back:  **Cool, see you then =)**

I dropped my phone on my bed and decided that I'd better start getting ready. I wanted to impress him with how drop-dead gorgeous I could be (in my dreams, anyway) and the first step was to get the chlorine stench that hung around the pool out of my hair. It got on everything, and I would much rather be smelling like strawberries than a pool chemical.

I walked out of my room and passed by James who was still sitting on the couch, head in his hands again, just like when we had been down at the pool and he had been getting his ass whipped by Logan. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't even look at him. I just kept right on walking.

* * *

**James's POV**

That girl was crazy. I already knew that of course, but it was astonishing at how crazy she could be. Did

she really think there wouldn't be any repercussions if we 'hung out'? She wanted me to treat her like I might a potential girlfriend, and we both know how those relationships tend to end. And don't people usually end up falling for each other when they fake date? It's in every cheesy teen romantic comedy, for crying out loud! I couldn't risk Katie falling for me, because I would only break her heart, and I knew that. I can't ruin our friendship. I just can't.

She had just slammed into her bedroom, and I groaned. I didn't blame her for being upset with me. If I was in her shoes I would be pretty pissed off, but the problem was, I wasn't in her situation. And it was really unfair for her to ask me to pretend to have a crush on her, especially after what had just happened down at the pool with Kendall. I still hadn't gotten myself dried off, but I didn't want to get up and leave the room incase she decided to come out of her room to talk. I could stand smelling like the pool for a little longer. Although, since I was still pretty wet, I doubted Mama Knight would be thrilled with me sitting on the couch. Oh well. It was a little late for that now.

I waited for about ten minutes before her door swung open and she marched out, pointedly not looking at me. I tried to say something but she just walked on by and into the bathroom. Okay then. If she wasn't going to talk to me out here in the living room, then I might as well confront her someplace where I could freely drip water.

I strode purposefully towards the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Go away!" she called angrily from inside the room.

"I'm coming in!" I yelled, and turned the doorknob. Hah! She hadn't locked the door. She must have been so furious with me that she had completely forgotten to. Well, more power to me.

She was halfway through undressing. Her shirt was lying on the floor, and she was unbuttoning her denim shorts. She glared ferociously at me as I closed the door behind me.

"What do you want?" she crossed her arms over her slender body, trying to hide her upper half from my sight. It didn't help much. My attention was still drawn to her half-naked body. How could Kyle  _not_  like her? Was he  _crazy_? Oh. Wait. I don't like her. No, seriously, I don't. She's like my little sister. I can't be getting turned on by her. That would be wrong. Very wrong. And very disgusting. Okay, focus James. Focus…

"I just want you to talk to me," I pleaded. "Try to see things from my point of view. Imagine what would be going through your mind if you were in my position. I – what are you doing?"

She had come towards me. She placed her hands on my bare chest – crap, I had forgotten to put a shirt back on! – and reached behind me, opening up the door. Uh oh…With one giant push that you wouldn't think a five foot girl would be able to manage, I found myself standing in the hallway outside the bathroom and staring at a closed door. There was a click and I knew she had locked the door this time.

All righty then.

If she wouldn't talk to me in the bathroom, then I was just going to have to ambush her in her bedroom.

I made my way to her room and settled down on her bed, not bothering to flip the light on. I just had to hope she wouldn't drop her towel the second she got into the safety of her room, because it wasn't so safe at the moment.

What was she taking a shower in the middle of the day for anyway? I was the one who had gotten pushed into the Palmwood's pool, not her. As far as I knew, she had showered earlier, in the morning. So why was she taking a second one?

Her phone suddenly vibrated from beside my left leg, lighting up with a new text. She had been texting Kyle earlier…I really shouldn't…I wouldn't…Self-control James…Oh, who the hell am I kidding?

I snatched her phone up, and staring around covertly, I opened the text:  **See u then :D**

Okay, pretty normal. But it was the long list of texts in the conversation that caught my eye. Actually, it was one text in particular:  **Haha, wow, big overreaction on your part! Nope, nothing's going on w/James & me, I was just helping him beat Logan at checkers & there was nowhere else 2 sit. Umm…yay for you guys! Listen, when do u have 2 meet her for your date 2nite? Would it be possible 4 me 2 see u before? I have something 2 tell u**.

It sounded like she was making plans to tell him how she felt about him. I face palmed with her phone still in my hand. She couldn't tell him! I know what guys like Kyle are like. He would tear her apart. Maybe he wouldn't do it intentionally, but he would break her heart if she just outright told him that she liked him. If he was dating blondes who look like they've got balloons strapped to their chests, then he probably wasn't going to look twice at Katie. Not because she wasn't pretty, but because she didn't have the Beach-Barbie look. She was small with a tiny, athletic frame, with long brown hair and huge brown eyes, not tall and blonde with an inflatable chest. Maybe it had completely escaped her notice, but she was Scarlett's polar opposite. Kyle was probably just going to laugh in her face and stomp on her heart. I couldn't let her do this to herself. I had to do something. But what?

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?"

Uh oh.

I looked up from her phone to see Katie standing in the doorway. She switched the light on and clutched the towel she was using to cover herself even tighter around her petite body.

"Uhhh…"

"IS THAT MY PHONE?"

"Uhhh…"

Wow, with a vocabulary like that it was amazing I hadn't done better on the reading section of the SAT.

Katie swooped down on me and yanked her phone out of my hand.

"HAVE YOU BEEN READING MY TEXTS?"

Something told me I should start praying right about now, because only a miracle was going to get me out of her room alive. Or with all my limbs still attached to my body, anyway.

"Look, Katie," I began, but she cut me off.

"What the hell gives you the right to just barge into my room and read my texts?"

"I only came in here so that I could wait for you where you couldn't run from me," I protested. "I didn't – I mean…you have a text from Kyle."

"Oh." She opened the text, and nodded with satisfaction when she read it. "Good."

"Are you going to tell him that you like him?" I couldn't help but ask.

"That's none of your business," she informed me.

"Yeah, but…I mean…I'm just concerned…"

"James, you refused to help me. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And in this case it means telling the guy she likes how she feels. And you can't stop me."

"But what if he just laughs at you?" I asked weakly.

She stormed right up to me, still holding the towel up. I'm a foot and an inch taller than her, so she didn't exactly tower over me, even when I was sitting down, but she was still pretty intimidating. I shrank back at her fierce glare.

"He won't," she said determinedly.

"But Katie…"

"He won't," she repeated, like a mantra that she had said in the mirror a thousand times. "Now James, if you would be so kind, please get the fucking hell out of my room!"

I knew defeat when it knocked me on my rear end. So with a deep, depressed sigh, I got to my feet and slouched out of her room. She closed the door behind me, and I found myself deep in thought, not a very common occurrence for me.

I had to stop her from telling Kyle how she felt. But how was I going to do that?


	3. Seriously, I'm Fake Dating Her

**Chapter 3 – No, seriously! I'm fake-dating her!**

AAAAAGH! James had some nerve! Imagine sneaking into my room and reading my texts! He was worse than an overprotective, snoopy parent! How dare he? What was his problem? He obviously wasn't going to help me get Kyle, so why did it even matter to him what I did, as long as I finally got what I wanted?

I know, I know. You're all probably thinking right now "James was just trying to look after you." Well, you know what? James should mind his own freaking business! Meddling with mine when he refused to be involved before is just going to get him hurt! And I do mean as in physically injured. Who knows? If he keeps getting himself involved in my personal affairs, some damage might even come to The Face.

I finished drying myself off and tossed the towel onto the floor before pulling out the clothes and underwear that I was going to wear to meet Kyle.

I pulled on a denim skirt, a striped tank top, and [wedge sandals](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7095392/3/Hot-Water). I brushed my hair out until it was full of volume, sleek, and shiny; I slid on some eye shadow, mascara, blush, and eyeliner, and slicked on some lip gloss, before adding earrings and a necklace to the ensemble.

There. If I do say so myself, I looked pretty damn good. Who knows? Kyle might even realize I'm a girl without me even having to do anything.

Hey, anything's possible.

I checked the time on my phone, and saw that I only had five minutes left to get down to the lobby. I rushed out of my room, passing by James who was now coming out of his bedroom, having changed out of the clothes he had been wearing before into jeans and a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. As much as I hated to admit it, he looked good.

But no, no, couldn't focus on that.

"Katie, you can't – !" he began to protest, but just then the front door swung open and Kendall came storming into the room.

"All right James! Let's have this out here and now!"

And with that, I left the apartment and headed down the hall towards the elevator. I got in and hit the button for the lobby.

Kyle was already sitting in one of the chairs, texting someone. God, he looked so hot with his hair falling into his brown eyes, a t-shirt hugging his broad chest. Wow…And here I was thinking that a short skirt and some makeup could make me appealing to him.

No, no, no Katie, don't think that way! Okay, okay. Whew. I'm good.

I crossed the room over to where Kyle was sitting. He looked up as I approached, and blinked very slowly several times.

"Whoa…Katie…you look…wow…"

And then there was my low cut top. I guess it was working its magic.

I flashed him a charming smile and sat down as neatly and lady-like as I could in the chair next to him.

"Hi Kyle."

"So what'd you want to talk to me about?" he asked as he slipped his phone into his jeans pocket.

I paused. Was this really such a good idea? What if James was right? What if he just laughed? While I had been showering I had told myself a few million times that we were friends, that he had been jealous when he saw me sitting in James's lap, that he would never ever laugh at me.

But what if he did?

_Come on Katie_ , I told myself.  _It's now or never_.

* * *

**James' POV**

I tried to go after Katie but Kendall blocked me. "Come on James, say whatever it is that you have to say!"

"But I don't have anything to say!" I protested. "Kendall, I swear, nothing was going on with me and Katie earlier, and now if you'll get out of my way, I have to go and stop Katie from doing the stupidest thing of her entire life!"

"WHAT? SHE'S GOING TO HAVE SEX?"

I paused once I had dodged around Kendall. "Make that the second most stupid thing she'll ever do in her life."

Before Kendall could ask any more questions I had dashed out of the room and to the elevator. I jabbed at the button about fifty-five times before it finally arrived. Damn. I should have just taken the stairs.

I was sure that by the time I got to the lobby the verdict would have been reached, but I was in luck. As I ran through the lobby, I spotted Katie sitting with Kyle, Kyle looking completely at ease, and Katie twisting her hands together like she did when she was nervous. Oh good. She hadn't told him yet.

"So seriously Katie, what was it you wanted to tell me?" I heard Kyle ask as I drew nearer.

"JAMES DIAMOND! NO RUNNING IN THE LOBBY!" Mr. Bitters shouted at me, stepping right in front of me from out behind his desk.

"Sorry," I apologized as I tried to side-step him. "Look, seriously, I need to get to – "

"YOU KNOW THE RULES!"

What was with people yelling at me today?

"It's just," Katie began, still twisting her hands, "it's kind of embarrassing. I mean…"

"Is it about a boy? Has Katie Knight finally found a guy she likes?" Kyle leaned forward, eyes glittering. He reminded me of a teenage girl. Hmmm…maybe he's gay.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bitters," I apologized quickly. "I promise it won't happen again."

"Um, yeah," Katie said quietly, staring down at the ground. "I – I did."

" _So_?" Kyle prodded her. "Who is he?"

I got around Mr. Bitters, just as Katie began stuttering, "It's – it's – "

"It's me!" I heard myself say as I reached them.

Both Katie's and Kyle's jaws dropped to the ground.

Kyle began blinking rapidly while Katie stared at me as if I had suddenly gone crazy. I didn't blame her. I was kind of wondering the same thing myself.

"You? But – but – you're James Diamond! You're four years older than her, and you're her older brother's best friend!" Kyle protested as he got to his feet.

"Yeah…" I began, but was at a complete lost at what else to say.

"And  _you_  told me that nothing was going on between you two!" Kyle cried, pointing accusingly at Katie, who also stood up.

"I – "

"We didn't want to go public," I improvised quickly, sliding my arm around Katie's waist. "But she couldn't stand lying to you, so we agreed that she should tell you. But please don't tell Kendall or, well, anyone."

Kyle glared at me and crossed his arms over his chest. "If you hurt Katie, I will personally ram your face into a paper shredder."

"Uhhh, that sounds fair." Funny. I had always thought  _I'd_  be the one saying it to someone else, not the other way around.

Katie put her hand on my arm, making sure to dig her nails into my flesh. "James," she said with a grimace for a smile, "how about we go back up to the apartment? There's something I'd like to talk to you about. See you later Kyle!"

"Uh, yeah, later K," Kyle replied with a confused expression on his face.

Katie dragged me to the elevator, still clutching my arm. She'd be drawing blood soon. She hit the button for the elevator, and a moment later the doors popped open with a DING. "Get in," she said with her teeth clenched together. I slid into the elevator car and she got in behind me, hitting the number 2 for our floor.

"Katie," I began, fiddling with the hem of my shirt, but she held up her hand.

"Don't speak," she ordered. "Just don't."

I could kind of understand why she was so angry with me. I had told her that I wouldn't get involved in her…situation…with Kyle, and then I went and stopped her from telling Kyle how she felt. But I only had the best intentions in mind!

But try telling that to a furious Katie.

After what felt like the longest elevator ride ever, there was a chirpy DING and the doors slid agonizingly, slowly open. I hurried out and Katie followed me, eyes fierce.

When we got to apartment 2J, Katie wordlessly opened the door and we stepped inside. Kendall was nowhere to be seen, but his and Logan's bedroom was closed, which meant that he was probably in there at the moment.

Katie rounded on me. Uh oh…

* * *

**Katie's POV**

I stomped over to James with my hands on my hips. "How is it," I demanded through clenched teeth, "that even though you say you don't want to be involved because something could happen to 'The Face', you still end up getting involved? I had a plan!"

"And he would have laughed at you," James insisted. "Or he would have been completely grossed out. Come on Katie, you've seen the kind of girls he goes for. None of them look like they have any of their natural body parts left, whereas you…" he waved his hand up and down as if to say that I looked a little too natural.

"So they're  _too_  plastic and I'm  _too_  natural?" I cried.

"No! AAAGH! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that Kyle seems to go for Pamela Anderson types and you're more the…I don't know…the Selena Gomez/Hilary Duff type."

I paused as I thought about that. I suppose I would rather be compared to Selena Gomez and Hilary Duff than Pamela Anderson (no offense to her or anything). But still…

"They probably never had the guys they like treat them like their sisters!" I retorted.

He hesitated before answering. "Well, we don't actually know them personally, so maybe…"

"JAMES!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, not even bothering to control my anger. "I HAVE LIKED KYLE SINCE I WAS THIRTEEN! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO RUINED OUR FIRST AND ONLY DATE AND ONCE AGAIN, YOU'RE GETTING INVOLVED!"

"YOU ASKED ME TO GET INVOLVED!" he roared back at me, losing his temper. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTED ME TO PRETEND TO BE INTERESTED IN YOU – "

I cut him off. "YEAH, BE INTERESTED IN ME, NOT ACTUALLY SAY THAT WE'RE DATING! AND NOW…AND NOW…NOW KYLE WILL THINK I'M UNAVAILABLE, AND THE PAPARAZZI WILL GET AHOLD OF US, AND I'LL BE CALLED A SLUT, AND IF KYLE FINDS OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, HE'S GOING TO HATE ME, AND THEN I'LL HAVE TO MOVE TO SOUTH AMERICAN AND RAISE LLAMAS!"

James took a step back, looking both alarmed and like he was doing his best not to burst out laughing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no one's moving to South American and raising llamas…do they even have llamas in South America?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was Alpacas."

"Maybe." He thought about that for a moment before shaking his head like a dog who's trying to get water out of his ears, and saying, "We'll figure out a way to get out of this mess."

" _How_?" I wailed.

"I – " he stopped. "Were you always this emotional?"

" _How can you ask me if I was always this emotional when my life as I know it has been completely ruined_?"

James reached his fingers up to his temples and began rubbing. "I have a headache," he muttered. "Now I know how Gustavo must feel." He breathed in and out deeply, like in yoga. "Katie, you're not an overemotional mud puddle, you're a strong, independent young woman, so pull yourself together!"

"You would make a fantastic therapist," I informed him sarcastically. "Tough love, right?"

"Katie, we both know this situation isn't exactly ideal, but we need to work together to get out of this."

I nodded in agreement. "So any ideas?"

* * *

**James' POV**

I racked my brain, but wasn't getting anywhere, so I pulled my Lucky comb out and began to run it through my glimmering locks. I do my best thinking when I'm combing my hair. Between Lucky and me, we should have enough brain power to come up with a fantastic idea.

Katie stood there with her arms crossed, giving me an impatient look.

"What?" I demanded. "I'm thinking."

"Does your comb hold your brain?" she asked nastily.

Ow. I'm used to getting insulted by Katie, but that one hurt.

I gave her a disapproving look. "I have a feeling I have a very abusive fake-girlfriend," I muttered as I whipped out my mirror to make sure that my hair fell perfectly over my forehead. If only Katie could be charmed by the flash of a white, charming smile and the flip of a head full of glossy hair. But she's completely immune to my charms. It probably has something to do with her being around me practically from the moment she was born. But if she could be won over by the assets that make me the pretty boy of the group, I could somehow use it to my advantage. I just need to figure out how. And not in the way that Kendall seems to think, but in a way that could help get me out of the mess I had managed to get myself into out of the goodness of my heart. Or my unfortunate need to help and protect Katie. Either reason would work.

"So break up with me," she said in a bored voice.

And that gave me an idea. "Hey…" I said slowly, smiling winningly at her. "What if we do break up? Not right now, we're carrying out this plan, but in a week or so, I'll break up with you in front of Kyle, you act completely heartbroken, he'll comfort you, and maybe he'll realize that you're the one he needs."

Katie tilted her head to one side, chewing on her lip. "That's actually not a bad idea," she agreed. "But until it's time to break up, what do we do then?"

"Just act like a couple totally in love in front of Kyle?" I suggested. "We'll act normally in front of everyone else, but when it's just you, Kyle, and I guess me, we'll act so sickeningly in love that he won't be able to help but be jealous."

Katie nodded. "It could work. And this way, we don't have to tell Kyle that I got you to help me make him jealous, and Kendall, Mom, Logan, and Carlos never have to find out, so no one will panic."

"Exactly. It's a perfect plan. Except for one thing…"

"What?" she asked, looking slightly alarmed.

"After we break up, we'll still be friends, right?"

She laughed. "Of course James! What's a fake-breakup between friends anyway?"

"Just what I wanted to hear," I told her as I slid my arm around her waist and smiled charmingly at her. I mean, it was the friendly thing to do, right?

She stepped out from my grip and smirked back. "This should be one interesting fake relationship."

My phone beeped and I pulled it out. I had a new text. I opened it and gulped as I slid my phone back in my jeans pocket.

"And things just got more interesting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :)


	4. Just a Friendly Movie Brawl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter, everyone :)

**Chapter 4 – Just a Friendly Movie Brawl**

**James's POV**

Katie stared at me fearfully. "How?"

I cringed. "Do you remember that girl I dated a few weeks ago? Courtney?"

Katie nodded. "Yeah. What about her? Oh no! You didn't go and get her pregnant, did you?"

She always expects the worst of me.

"No! Of course not! I always use protection – "

Katie held up her hand, wincing. "Too much information dude."

"Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, no, she's not pregnant. But she does have an acting job, and she's going to move into the Palmwoods for a few weeks."

Katie nodded slowly, beginning to comprehend what I was saying. "And she wants to get back together with you?"

"Uh, yeah, she's hoping I'll consider it."

"What're you going to do?" she asked. "I mean, you can't tell her you have a girlfriend, but if you date someone else Kyle might see and realize that we're faking."

"Or he'll think I'm cheating on you and spread it around and then no girl will ever want to go out with me," I added.

She let out a huffy sigh. "So what do we do?"

"I'll tell her I'll think about it," I improvised. I pulled my phone back out and quickly texted Courtney back.

"Uhhh…Courtney…isn't she the one who was super jealous?" Katie asked, frowning and biting down on her lower lip.

I groaned. "Yeah she was."

"Awesome. Things just keep getting better by the second."

"You don't have to be sarcastic about it," I protested.

The front door opened just then and Carlos and Logan both came in. Carlos was holding on to Logan and had his hand on his stomach, moaning.

"He had a few too many corndogs," Logan explained as he kicked the door closed behind him.

"But it was totally worth it," Carlos piped up, smiling happily despite his apparent massive stomachache.

Logan shook his head. "I'll get you something for your stomach. Come on, Carlitos." He helped Carlos into mine and his room before heading to the bathroom to grab something from the medicine cabinet.

"So when is Courtney arriving?" Katie asked me in a low hiss.

"Tomorrow," I told her and smiled sarcastically. "Isn't that fantastic?"

"Oh yeah, I'm just jumping for joy," she retorted.

We paused as Logan came out of the bathroom with a bottle of some sort of medicine and went into Carlos's and my room.

"Well, I don't really want to get back together with her anyway," I said. "So there's nothing for either of us to worry about."

Katie nodded. "Good."

"So Kyle and Scarlett are going to  _Kiss and Tell 3_  tonight?" I confirmed.

"Yep."

"So would you want to go then? We can work on making him jealous." The way I figured it was that the sooner we got the scam on the sooner we would be done with it.

She winkled her nose. "Do we have to make out?"

I froze. That wasn't something I had thought about. "Uhhh…"

Katie shrugged. "We'll figure that out when we get there."

* * *

**Katie's POV**

James and I agreed to catch the 7:45 showing of Kiss and Tell 3, because that was the one that Kyle and Scarlett were most likely going to see. Of course, that meant that I had to change clothes  _again_. There was no way I was sitting through a two-hour long movie in a tight skirt.

As I changed, for the first time since it had happened, I was able to focus on James coming to my 'rescue'. While I'm sure I didn't actually need his help, it was a sweet gesture, and it showed how much he cared about me. And what was even crazier than his actions was how I had felt when he had come dashing up to Kyle and me and cried that we were dating. I had felt… _relieved_. Happy almost. I guess because I had been let off the hook. Because I didn't have to admit to Kyle how I felt about him.

You almost had to admire James, at how fast he had come up with the story of us secretly dating when he was 'rescuing' me. Maybe he had been hanging around me too much.

But the problem was that now we actually had to pretend to be dating, instead of him just pretending to be interested in me. I hadn't wanted us to fake date because…well…I could get caught up in it so easily. Hey, it's not my fault that I fell for James Diamond in the first place. He's gorgeous, and can actually be really nice and sweet when he wants to be.

I guess I was about fourteen when I began to see him as more than a brother. It was a slow process, kind of the opposite of the way it was with Kyle – wow, cute guy, BAM! I started hanging out with James a lot more than I used to when I was about thirteen, and I got to know him pretty well, and I just slowly began to develop a crush on him. But he can never know. He only thinks of me as a little sister, and besides, even if he did like me, Kendall would never allow it. I mean, he pushed James into the pool just because I was sitting on his lap! Not that I can blame Kendall, considering how James can get with girls. But he was just one of the many reasons why James and I will never be together.

I guess that's why I'm so focused on Kyle. Because he's the guy that I can actually have. If he would look at me like a girl, I mean. Which, you know, would be pretty nice. But I'd rather be with him then with James anyway. Kyle doesn't go out with girls just so that he can't get in their pants. He actually goes out with girls because he likes them. I think.

Finally I forced all thoughts of the James/Kyle war out of my head and instead chose the outfit I was going to wear for that night: Dark blue rinse skinny jeans, a fitted white graphic t-shirt, a black cropped vest, and black heeled sandals. There. I looked female. I retouched up my makeup, brushed my hair out, and was just slipping in gold hoop earrings when James knocked on my door.

"Kates, you almost ready?" he called through the wood.

"Yeah, I'm done," I answered him, and walked over to open the door.

His jaw dropped when he saw me and his hazel eyes widened.

I struck a pose, leaning on the door frame in as sultry a way as I could manage without actually looking like I was trying to seduce him. "So do I look feminine?"

His response: "Are you wearing a pushup bra?"

I frowned. I guess that was a good answer, although considering who it was coming from, I wasn't sure it was all that flattering.

"No…" I said slowly. "Why?"  _And is there a reason you're apparently staring at my chest the way Carlos would stare at a corndog_?

He blinked before smiling innocently at me. "No reason, just my imagination I guess. Anyway, yes, you look stunning. Kyle won't be able to take his eyes off of you when he sees you."

I had to smile back at him, even though the pushup bra comment was still playing through my mind. What had he meant by that? Did the vest make my chest look larger or something? And why would he even notice that in the first place?

Mentally shaking my head to get rid of that thought, I snatched my purse from the coat rack that was just inside my bedroom door, and said simply, "Let's get going."

 _Getting going_ , however, turned out be a little less simple than what we had planned.  _Why_? you may ask. Well, for starters, Kendall decided at that moment that the living room was lonely without his presence and wanted to comfort it.

I had literally just swung my purse over my shoulder and closed my bedroom door when Kendall and Logan's door opened up and Big Bro himself stepped out, shaking his bangs out of his eyes.

He halted when he saw James and I standing, frozen, just outside my own room with my purse over my shoulder.

"And what're you two up to?" he asked, his voice laced with suspicion.

"We're…uh…" James stumbled, apparently stumped at how we were going to get out of this one. Thankfully for him, I'm the  _Princess of Scheming, Plans, Lies, and Manipulating Everyone_ , otherwise he might've ended up with his face being shoved into the flat screen TV, considering the way Kendall crossed his arms and stared James down.

"He's going to take me to see a movie!" I piped up, trying to sound as perky as was possible for me. Once again, I felt as if I need pom-poms. Or maybe a white poodle named Buttercup. Maybe on the way home James and I could swing by the nearest pet shop…

Kendall's expression immediately darkened. It seemed that no matter what James might have told him earlier when Kendall had stopped him from going after me, he was still wary. "You two are going to see a movie?  _In a theater_?  _In the dark_?  _With seats very close together_?  _Which movie_?"

Now if we had told Kendall that we were going to go to see  _Kiss and Tell 3_ …well, remember the flat screen TV with James's face in it? Yeah…now substitute the flat screen TV for a brick wall. Which is why, before James could even open his mouth, I quickly said, "He's taking me to see  _A Fairy Love Story_. It looks so sweet!"

Both James's and Kendall's faces blanched, and for the same reason for once. The idea of going to go see  _A_   _Fairy Love Story_  to a twenty-one year old male was roughly the equivalent of admitting that they listen to the Jonas Brothers.

"Uh, James?" Kendall said, clearing his throat as he turned his eyes on the horrified boy standing next to me. "Is there something you want to share?" He sounded more amused than anything else, and color flooded back into James's cheeks. A little too much color, to be quite truthful.

"Oh, it was our deal – she'd help me beat Logan at checkers, and I would take her to see  _A Fairy Love Story_ ," James quickly improvised.

I was both shocked and impressed by his quick thinking. Maybe there was a brain under that perfectly glossy hair after all.

Kendall nodded to show his realization. "Oh, okay. Well…uh…have fun…" the last word came out in a half-choked-on laugh at James's supposed misfortune.

I glanced at the time on my phone. "Sorry, Kendall, I'd love to stay and chat, but we need to get to the movie. So see you later!" I grabbed James by the arm and dragged him out of the apartment.

The second the door closed behind us, James turned to me. "I hate lying to Kendall like this. And  _A Fairy Love Story_? Really Katie? Really?"

"Well, if I told him the truth he would have done permanent damage to your face."

James groaned. "But what if we told him the real truth? The whole truth?"

I had to think about that one for a moment. It sounded like a pretty good idea. "Why don't we go tell him…only make it sound like it's all hypothetical? That way we can test the waters before diving in."

"Okay," James agreed readily. "But after the movie. First, we really need to get going if we want to get Kyle to notice you." We began walking, and he continued talking. "I'm thinking we should try to catch his attention in the theater lobby, where there's still adequate lighting, otherwise he won't get a good look at you and won't notice how hot you look."

We reached the elevator and James jabbed at the button. We only had to wait a few seconds before the doors opened.

The next problem, however, showed up at the lobby, in the form of none other than Reginald Bitters. The man's name says it all.

"James Diamond!" he bellowed as we stepped into the lobby. "You violated one of the rules of the lobby earlier!"

"Which one did you break now?" I asked wearily. We so did not have time for this.

"He was running in  _my_  lobby!" Bitters exclaimed.

"When I was trying to get to you," James muttered to me, and I nodded.

"Look," James said, stepping forward. "I already apologized for that, and I swear it won't happen again. And this time I didn't even knock anyone down…or break anything…"

Bitters hmphed, but relented. "Fine. But don't let it happen again." And he stepped aside. We were home free. Or so we thought, anyway.

The ride in the Big Time Rush mobile was relatively uneventful, and we managed to get our tickets at the theater without any problems. We headed into the theater and with a quick scan of the place, James and I spotted Kyle and Scarlett within seconds.

They were standing off by one of the arcade games, holding hands and facing each other, talking softly.

At once, my stomach churned and I gulped back what might have been nausea. I hadn't thought about what might happen when James and I 'met up by accident' with Kyle and Scarlett.

James touched my elbow. "Come on Katie, there they are."

"Oh…ummm…I don't know…" I muttered, staring at the carpeted, gum-adorned floor.

James sighed and pulled me around and closer to him, before placing his hands on my waist. "Katie?" he prodded, trying to peer down into my eyes while I did my best to look away. "What is it, Batie Bear?"

I smiled at the mention of my old nickname. Legend has it that when I was first born James had some trouble pronouncing my name – he kept substituting the K with a B, and eventually the name stuck and  _bear_  was added on. But James was the only one who ever called me that, because I would pummel anyone else, even Kendall, who used that name with me. It was a purely James-me-thing, and I refused to let anyone break in.

"I just…I don't know if I can face him," I whispered, still looking down at the ground. "I mean, what if he doesn't even notice that I look different than what I normally do? What if he's still upset because he thinks I lied to him?"

James snorted. "Katie, _I_  noticed how different you look, and you're practically my little sister."

"No I'm not," I argued. "If I was, then you would have never agreed to fake date me."

James's brow creased, but before he could come up with a comeback, Kyle called over to us.

"Katie, James! Wow! I didn't expect to see you guys here!"

 _Operation: Get Kyle to Believe That James and I are Dating and Therefore Become Insanely_   _Jealous_ was immediately put into effect.

James and I both faced him, James keeping one arm around my waist, and I slipped my arm around him. We plastered smiles on our faces as the picture-perfect couple approached us.

As much as I hated to admit it, Scarlett looked much better with Kyle then I would, but only because she looked like a Barbie Doll and Kyle could have been the model for a Ken Doll advertisement. A natural Ken Doll, I mean, not completely plastic and fake. I'm sure if I spent a few thousand dollars on my chest, my nose, my lips, and my butt, I could probably look like a smaller, brunette version of Scarlett. Of course, if I wanted to go the extra mile, I could also dye my hair blonde. Then I could look like a Beach Barbie too! Wouldn't that just be so much fun?

"Oh, well, you know, first date and all that," I quickly said. "We thought we'd keep it simple but romantic."

"Yeah," James added. "And seeing  _Kiss and Tell 3_  seemed like the perfect first date."

Wow. I could have sworn that Kyle's face just went white.

"You're – you're going to go see  _Kiss and Tell 3_?" he asked, suddenly sounding a bit worried.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be super romantic," I said cheerfully. "Hey, aren't you going to introduce us to your date?"

"Oh, um, yeah," Kyle mumbled. "Uh, Scarlett, this is Katie and James. Katie and James, this is Scarlett."

Scarlett flashed us a blindingly white smile. "It's so nice to meet you two. Say, James, you wouldn't happen to be in that group, Big Time Rush, now would you?"

James smiled at her. "As a matter of fact, I would."

Scarlett clapped her hands together like a three-year-old who just figured out where the candy was hidden. "Oh my gosh! I love your music! I'm, like, your biggest fan, seriously! And  _you're_  my favorite," she added, lowering her voice suggestively.

James widened his grin. "Thanks, Scarlett."

Geh. What an airhead. And Kyle actually  _likes_  her? Is he  _crazy_?

Kyle shuffled his feet and smiled at Scarlett. "So we were about to head into the theater. We should all sit together."

James glanced at me and I nodded with just the hint of a satisfied smile. Perfect.

"Sure," I agreed. "Sounds good."

"Oh, I don't know," Scarlett said in a simpering voice. "I mean, it's three times more romantic then the first  _Kiss and Tell_  movie, and twice as romantic as  _Kiss and Tell 2_. Should anyone really be sitting with anyone else besides their significant others?"

As much as I hated to admit it, she kind of had a point…

"Katie's not really into PDA," James quickly said. "Dark closets are more of her type…OW!" he finished with a yelp when he felt my foot stomp down on him.

I flashed him a mock-apologetic smile. "Oh, sorry, James. Damn heels anyway."

"No problem, babe," James said with a smirk in my direction that let me know I was going to pay for that one.

"Oh, you two are so cute together!" Scarlett squealed out, and Kyle grinned at her.

"Come on, Scar, let's go grab seats." He took her hand and led her off in the direction of the screening rooms.

"Isn't she lovely?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, since she's our  _number one fan_!" James replied in a falsetto and I snorted.

"She probably doesn't even know what our first music video was," James continued on. "Anyway…we better hurry up if we're going to catch the movie. Come on, I'll buy you a small popcorn with extra butter and salt. And then…lemme guess…cherry coke?"

I grinned. "You know me so well."

James led me over to the concession counter and ordered our food. We were promptly handed bags of popcorn that looked as if they had been jumbo-sized.

"You know," I said to James as I took my popcorn from him and staggered a bit under the weight of air popped corn, "I think the person who designs the sizes of the snacks here got small mixed up with gigantic."

"Let me know if you want me to finish your food for you," he said.

I hugged my popcorn to my chest. "Absolutely not! It's  _my_  food!  _You_  eat  _yours_!"

We headed in the direction of the screen room we knew  _Kiss and Tell 3_  was going to be shown in. On the way, I jabbed James in the side with my elbow. "What was with that comment about me preferring dark closets?"

James turned his head to look at me. "It just seemed more your style. I mean, as opposed to making out in a dark, crowded theater right next to the guy you're madly in love with."

"Okay, first off, I am  _not_  madly in love with him! And second – " I was cut off as we walked into the dark room.

I blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden dimness of the room.

"There's Kyle and the Beach Barbie!" James pointed a few rows up.

I snickered at his name for Scarlett. Somehow, it seemed appropriate.

We stumbled up the steps and over to where Kyle and Scarlett were sitting. His arm was already around her shoulder sand her head was on his shoulders.

It was sickening.

I plopped down next to Kyle and James sat next to me. We arranged our sodas and popcorn bags so that we weren't completely squished in our seats, and within seconds James had slipped his arm around me and I had laid my head on his shoulder.

Kyle glanced sideways at us, his usual self-assured smirk completely gone. I smiled into James's shoulder. Good. Things were going just as they were supposed to.

I felt James press his lips against my hair, and my eyes closed involuntarily. Okay…maybe that was taking things a little too far…

"No freaking way," James muttered.

I sat up straight and looked over in the direction that James had fixed his eyes. My jaw dropped straight open as I saw who had just come in: Jo and Jett.

"Uhhh…Scarlett?" I reached around Kyle to prod her.

She sat up to glare at me. "What?"

"Your brother's here."

She whipped around wildly and clapped her French manicured nails over her mouth when she saw that Jett was indeed making his way down the aisle directly in front of us.

"Oh! Oh! Kyle, we've got to get out of here! Jett will freak if he finds out I'm at the most romantic movie of the year with a date! Come on!" and she leapt to her feet, pulling Kyle up with her. He glanced at us, a look of shock on his face, before following her as she clambered over the back of the seats to the aisle behind us and towards the outer aisle as far away from Jett and Jo as was possible.

James and I grinned at each other.

"Well, he seemed to notice you," James whispered, "and he and Scarlett won't be making out during this movie now, so…mission accomplished."

"Good," I said. "Wanna get going then?"

"Hell no! We paid for these tickets, and in this economy, there's no way we're going to throw away money on a movie we're not even going to watch."

He had a point, but I really didn't want to be stuck in a theater full of people kissing and cuddling and who knows what else? The very idea was nauseating.

Jett and Jo sat down in the seats directly in front of us, and James smirked. "And the entertainment value just went up."

Before I could quite comprehend what he meant by that, he grabbed a handful of popcorn from his bag and tossed it in front of him. It landed in Jett's short, neatly combed hair. Jett yelped and began grabbing at his hair like he thought a rat had just spit in it.

He and Jo both turned around and James and I waved sweetly at them.

"What are you two doing  _here_ , at  _this_  movie?" Jo hissed at us, her soft brown eyes widening.

"Funny, Josephine Taylor, I could ask you the same thing," I retorted calmly.

"I – we're – one of the actors in this movie is going to be on the  _New Town High_ , and we thought we should check out his work," Jo told us, shifting in her chair uncomfortably.

"Oh, yeah, that's our excuse too," James said sarcastically. "One of guys who plays the theme song is going to be guest starring on our new album."

"Really?" Jett asked. "Which one?"

James, Jo, and I all face palmed. Only Jett Stetson would be completely obliviously to heavy sarcasm.

"Tell you what," James said, leaning forward towards Jo. "We won't tell Kendall that you were here with Jett if you don't tell him that I'm here with Katie."

Jo cocked an eyebrow. "Kendall and I are over, so why should it matter if he finds out I was out with another boy?" As she said it, she flinched with pain. She wasn't completely over him, that much was obvious. "And since when are you two dating anyway?"

"Because he might break Jett's neck," James replied easily. "And we're not dating. We're here platonically."

"Right," Jo said cynically. "Because only  _just friends_  go to see the hottest make out movie of the year."

I shrugged. "We did."

"Fine, whatever," Jo relented. "We won't bother you if you don't bother us."

"Fine with me," James agreed, and leaned back in his seat as the opening credits rolled across the screen.

The movie opened with a shot of two strangers bumping into each other while strolling down a Parisian street. Very sweet.  _Gag_.

And the sweetness just continued on. And on. And on. Until I felt as if I had overdosed on sugar, despite all the butter and salt that I had crammed into my system.

But the third hurdle leapt out at us during the two main characters' first kiss. Jett twisted in his seat to face James and me.

"So James, tell me, how is Katie at kissing? I'm guessing she's aggressive, with a bit of a masochistic edge. You know, like bondage? Is she that way in bed?"

James's fist connected with Jett's face.

"If you broke my nose – !" before Jett could finish his threat, James had jumped over the row of seats in front of us and shoved Jett out of his chair in the process. Both boys landed hard on the cement floor, James on top of Jett. Jo immediately leapt to her feet and began trying to pull both boys apart, but she couldn't get near enough to them – too many flailing limbs – to do any damage to the fight.

I hopped over Jett's seat and tried to wedge the two boys apart, but couldn't get in-between them any more than Jo could.

"Maybe if we dump one of the sodas over them they'll be so shocked that they'll stop fighting," I suggested to Jo, but she shook her head.

"Nope, Jett will just go ballistic because we ruined one of his shirts and he'll get his second wind."

So that idea was out.

Before we could form another plan a team of security guards stormed into the movie theater. If the other members of the audience hadn't realized that two boys were in the middle of a fight, they figured it out when the guards began yelling, "Okay, okay! Break it up you two! Break it up!" and they managed to pull them apart.

Jett yanked his shirt straight. "Guards, arrest this…miscreant. He attacked me for no reason at all."

Jo snorted. "Uh, Jett, you insulted Katie. What did you expect him to do? Buy you roses?"

"Yeah, see!" James insisted to the huge, beefy guard who was holding him by the back of his shirt. "I was provoked!"

The guard eyed him, and then released him. "All right," he agreed. "But the four of you need to leave –you're a major distraction to the rest of the audience."

"Oh, but they didn't notice the five huge security guards that came bursting in halfway through the movie," I replied.

"Okay, smart ass, you and your boyfriend get to go first."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I protested, but suddenly both James and I were picked right up off the floor by the security guards and literally thrown out into the lobby.

Jett rounded on James. "Apologize!"

"For  _what_?" James yelled. "You're the one who insulted Katie! If anyone here is going to apologize, it should be  _you_  to  _her_!"

"Fine," Jett mumbled, and turned to me. "I'm sorry, Katie…that Diamond doesn't appreciate your sexual assets." He winked at me and James glared ferociously at Jett.

"I – I – I…Of course I – I mean, not that I – WHAT?"

"Can you imagine how much fun sex with her would be? I mean, you know, considering what she's rumored to be into – OOF!"

James had launched himself once more at Jett, and they landed on the floor…again. From the sounds of it, Jett had gotten the wind knocked out of him.

"SHE'S NOT INTO THAT KIND OF STUFF!" James roared. "AND WHERE DID YOU EVEN HEAR ANY OF THAT?"

"Uh, James?" Jo piped up. "Jett can't really answer you if you're trying to choke him."

"Oh, right." James released Jett's throat, and settled instead for pinning his arms above his head.

"Don't ever do that again! I would lose all my good looks if I was suffocated!"

"Not to mention your life," I muttered under my breath.

James kneed Jett in the stomach. "WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT ABOUT KATIE?"

"Just…around…"

James kneed Jett even harder. "WHERE?"

"I don't know, okay! Somewhere at the Palmwoods! I don't know! Someone must have told me!"

James grumbled while my stomach twisted. What were people saying about me?

"When did you hear this?" I demanded.

"A few days ago!"

I let out a heavy sigh. That wasn't much help. And neither was Jett.

"James," I said, "let him up. He's worthless when it comes to information. Now if we wanted a self-absorbed Abercrombie model, he would be perfect. But it's pointless questioning the guy who's entire head has been inflated by hair spray, mouth spray, body spray, and every other kind of spray."

James turned a wounded face towards me. "Hey," he said, sounding genuinely hurt. "I use every kind of spray."

"Yeah, but it's not seeping out of your ears," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "Come on, let him up, he's not going to be any help, and do you really want to get kicked out of the theater for the rest of your life?"

"No, I guess not," James grumbled, and he got up off of Jett. Jett stood up and brushed himself off.

"Now, remember," Jett said to me, "I'm not opposed to having sex with a seventeen-year-old, so if Cuda-boy here can't take it, just give me a call, okay? We could have a lot of fun."

And that's about the time that James threw him right over the concession counter and into the popcorn machine. He clambered over the counter to continue beating the crap out of him. Within minutes, the popcorn popper had exploded, the soda machine had spilled out every drop of soda that it had had (that was the one time Jett got one good punch in), and the different types of candy were now floating around in the mess (that was when James and Jett were rolling around on the floor and managed to roll right into the counter). Different witnesses insisted that James had thrown the first punch, although a couple could confirm that it sounded like Jett was making lewd comments to me.

In any case, we were all thrown quite violently right out onto the street, and told to "Never come back! Ever!"

"I'm going to go see a doctor," Jett groused. "Jo, drive me."

"Sorry about him," Jo whispered to us as she walked Jett towards his car.

James and I glanced at each other.

"You should really see a doctor too," I told him. "You look terrible."

And he really did. He had a black eye (courtesy of Jett's one good punch) bruises spanning over his cheekbones and neck, and his right fist was black, purple, blue, and a very bloody red.

"Oh no, I'm not going to go see Doctor Hollywood," James corrected. "He'd probably give me some sort of medication to not feel pain every time I hit something. As much as that would help…Katie, could you just take me home? All I really need is an icepack."

"Yeah, about twenty of them," I retorted, but held out my hand for the car keys nonetheless. James dropped them delicately in my palm and we walked back to the Big Time Rush mobile, James hobbling a bit and winced every few steps.

I unlocked the doors and opened the passenger side door so that James could slide gingerly into the front seat. I slammed it shut behind him and walked around so that I could get in on the driver's side. I sat down in the seat and adjusted it so that I could reach the pedals and see over the dashboard. I adjusted the mirrors and slipped the key into the ignition and turned. After the events of the evening, I half-expected it to just die on me, but the engine turned over and purred smoothly, like a cat who's chowing down on tuna fish.

After readjusting the mirrors, I pushed down the parking brake and slammed the gear into reverse so that I could back out of the parking spot.

I managed to maneuver the car onto the road, although because I usually drive Mom's car (she finally broke down and bought one) the first few minutes were pretty choppy. Once I managed to adapt to the car, the ride became quite a bit smoother. At least, James stopped flinching at every abrupt turn or jerk.

"Where else did he get you?" I asked, my concern rising. I hadn't thought that Jett had managed to do much damage, but apparently I was wrong, considering how much pain James seemed to be in.

"Just a couple of other places," James said, leaning his head against the window. "I'm just sore from tackling him after every stupid and insulting thing he said."

"Yeah, about that," I began as I checked my mirrors to move over into the left lane. "You didn't have to keep beating him up every time he said something offensive. He's a jack ass. We know this. We've lived with it for over four years."

"It's just…what he was saying to you," James replied, avoiding my eyes. "He had no right. It was all lies, but that last comment…that was beyond inappropriate."

I nodded to show my understanding. I knew James thought of me like a little sister, and therefore he would defend my honor like he would a little sister. But still. As much as I hated to admit it when I was supposed to have an unbelievably huge crush on Kyle, it was kind of sexy, the way he had defended me. But there was no way I could say that aloud. James would just be disgusted, and then there goes our entire plan, not to mention our friendship.

* * *

**James's POV**

I had a hard time believing that just that morning I had been sitting across the table from Logan by the pool, trying to figure out how to beat him at checkers. In the ten hours since Katie had proclaimed that she could help me as long as I let her sit on my lap so much had happened that it made my head spin. I just wanted to get home so that I could get some ice on my two-hundred or so bruises, and maybe watch a hockey game on TV or something. But…oh crap, what if the others were home? Logan was probably out with Camille and Carlos might have recovered from his stomachache enough to down a few more corndogs at  _Corndog Mania_ , the restaurant that sold all corndogs, but Kendall and Mrs. Knight? They were probably just sitting around the apartment, watching a movie or something. And they were bound to ask what had happened. The getting-into-a-fight-with-Jett part wasn't really shocking, it was just where we happened to get into the first fight. Was Kendall really going to believe that we ran into Jett and Jo at _A Fairy Love Story_? Well, it might be worth a try to pitch the story…

Katie kept glancing at me, worry creasing her brow, on the way home. I knew she was upset about what had happened, and I knew she was anxious over my constant flinching, and I was glad to know she cared, but honestly, I didn't regret punching Jett out at any moment. The things he was saying to and about her…I felt a hot, gooey pit of anger just thinking about it.

Eventually we pulled into the hotel parking lot and Katie parked the car and turned off the ignition. She helped me out of the car and into the lobby. The lobby was fairly empty because no one was allowed to loiter in the lobby after nine, and it was nine-thirty. There were shouts and screams and laughter from the direction of the pool, but we headed in the opposite direction, towards the elevator. Wordlessly, Katie hit the button for the elevator and within a few seconds the car had arrived.

"So what're we going to do if your brother and mother are in the apartment?" I asked once we were inside the elevator.

"Try not to let them get a good look at your face," Katie suggested, "and we'll go into your room so that I can take care of you."

"And what're you going to tell them when they ask why you're getting every single icepack we have out of the freezer?"

"I'll tell them I'm going to put them over the fans in yours and Carlos's room to see if we can make our own homemade air conditioners."

I cocked my head and winced when the bruises on my neck protested. "That could work. It's worth a try."

The elevator reached the second floor and we stepped out into the hallway.

We approached 2J cautiously, but didn't hear anything from inside the apartment. We opened the door carefully, but it appeared to be empty.

"Hello?" Katie called. "Anyone home?"

No answer.

"Maybe Kendall's listening to his iPod," I suggested to her, but just as the words were leaving my mouth, a piece of paper on the kitchen counter caught my eye. I crossed the room to snatch the paper up. "It's from Mama K! She and Kendall went out to a late dinner about half an hour ago. Cool. I guess no one else is here."

"Go into your room," Katie ordered. "I'll get the icepacks."

I followed her instructions and settled down on my bed. She came into the room a few moments later, carrying a load of icepacks in her arms and towels in her arms. "Here, just start applying them to your bruises," she said, panting a bit as she tried to keep a couple of packs from falling onto the ground.

I grabbed them and pressed them to my neck. "AAAGH! THAT'S COLD!"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Well, I should hope so. It is an  _ice_ pack after all."

I snatched a few more of them, but quickly discovered a problem.

"Uhhh…Katie? How am I supposed to hold them to my neck  _and_  my face at the same time?"

"I'll help," she volunteered. "Here, move your hand." I let my hand drop from my face and she gently pressed a pack to my right cheek.

"You know," I said jokingly, "I have a feeling that fake-dating you is going to be dangerous."

She smiled bitterly. "You know something James? I think you're right."


	5. May I Present My Psycho Ex?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy the chapter :)

**Chapter 5 – May I Present My Psycho Ex-Girlfriend**

**James's POV**

"So how bad does my face look?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

Katie removed the ice and leaned forward. "Well…"

"Go ahead," I said with a sigh. "I'm a grown man. I can take it."

Katie's lips twitched upward in a slight smile. "That point could be argued."

"Which part?"

"Both."

"Come on, just tell me how my face looks."

Katie bit her lip. "You look like you had a brick wall fall on your face."

I cringed, and then yelped when one of the bruises on my cheeks contracted. "That bad huh?"

"Pretty much."

She pressed the ice back to my face. "I feel like I should be doing more, but I don't know what else to do. I wish Logan was here, he'd know."

I put my hand over hers as she held the pack to my face and smiled at her as best as I could without grimacing or yelling in pain. "You're doing fantastic. Seriously, my face would probably be way worse off if you weren't here."

Her lips curved up in a grateful smile, and I thought I saw a flash of something in her eyes that I had never seen before. "Thanks James."

I held her gaze, trying to figure out what it was that I had seen, but when it didn't reappear, I dropped my eyes and brought my hand down to my lap.

Katie winced a bit and the icepack on my eye slipped a little on my face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "I'm fine."

I moved my hand back to hers. "No you're not. What's wrong?"

She left out a huffy sigh. "It's not a big deal. It's just…I kind of bending down to hold the ice on your face and my back is starting to cramp up. I just need to sit down."

I gestured to the empty mattress that sprawled out beside me. "So sit down." Really, for someone who

was so smart, she really could be extremely stupid.

"But what if Kendall walks in?" she wanted to know. "Won't he get even more pissed off? I mean, I'm in your room anyway, but sitting on your bed? He'll assume the worst."

I knew what she meant. Sitting on someone's bed might seem completely harmless, but in Kendall's mind, it was two steps away from sex, maybe a step-and-a-half. "He's out with your mom. It's safe. Go ahead, sit down."

She hesitated, but then moved over so that she was sitting beside me on my bed. Her thigh brushed up against mine, and I smiled at the sudden contact. It was pleasant and warm and cozy and comfortable. Maybe a little  _too_  comfortable…

I searched around my mind for a platonic topic and finally decided on, "So what'd you think of the movie?"

She laughed. "You mean the part that we actually saw? It was very…romantic. And I remembered about five minutes into it why I prefer action movies. What about you? Did you like the hour of the movie that we saw?"

"Uhhh…romantic movies…not really my think…But it was probably better than  _A Fairy Love Story_."

Katie cracked up, throwing her head back. "I don't know… _A Fairy Love Story_  probably wasn't as sickeningly sweet as  _Kiss and Tell 3_."

Before I could reply, she gasped. "I just remembered – I know what I can put on your neck and face! I'll be right back!" And she leapt up, letting the icepack fall to the bed.

I really hoped she wasn't getting what I thought she was getting. InstaBruiseHealer has got to be the worst medicinal product ever made. Not to mention the worst-smelling. It smells like a mixture of sour milk, perfumed cigarette smoke, and bad eggs. Not something I wanted to smell like until the cream finally wore off.

But somehow, after the events of the night, I didn't think I was going to get that lucky.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

I rummaged around in the bathroom's medicine cabinet, searching for InstaBruiseHealer. I knew James hated it more than he hated limp hair, but it would be just as beneficial to the healing process as the ice would. Which meant that if he wanted the deformed bruises gone before the paparazzi snapped pictures of him in all his wounded glory, he was going to have to suck it up and take it like the man he says he is.

I couldn't help but think of what he said after I had said that I wished Logan was there. James could be so sweet when he wanted to, and it reminded me why I had fallen for him in the first place. The entire

day had been a huge reminder of that. And it wasn't making it easy for me. I was fighting confusion at every twist and turn.

I finally spotted the white tube with the thick, icy blue writing that crossed the length of the container:  _INSTABRUISEHEALER – Heals Bruises Three Times as Fast_.

I snatched the tube from the shelf it had been hiding on, and headed out of the bathroom, back to James's and Carlos's bedroom.

James was still sitting on the bed, holding icepacks to his neck. He looked up warily when I walked back into the room.

"Please tell me you didn't –AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!" it's amazing that a twenty-one-year-old guy can make such a high-pitched noise, but that's exactly what he did when I revealed the InstaBruiseHealer. He screamed like a five-year-old girl, threw the icepacks in the air, and tumbled right off the bed. Sadly for him, he couldn't escape because I was standing in front of the door. Instead, he crawled back on the bed, and I dove for him.

"Katie…" he began pleadingly. "You wouldn't – you're not evil – please don't – !" He scrambled back out of my reach, and I went after him. He rolled to one side and I lunged, pinning him to the bed. His eyes widened. "Katie…please…please…" he moaned.

I grinned wickedly. "Now be a good boy and stay still so that I can take care of you. Now tell me where it hurts," I added teasingly like I was a nurse who was trying to flirt with one of their patients.

"You know where it hurts," he said hoarsely. "But Katie...you're not going to…please…please…AAAGH!"

The last syllable came out as a shriek, since I had just uncapped the tube.

I winced. The smell really was pretty terrible and I couldn't blame him for not wanting it on any part of his skin, but he was the one who was paranoid about blemishes, and bruises were a lot worse than a tiny zit.

I dabbed some of the mixture onto my index finger and aimed for a bruise on his neck.

"KATIE!" James screamed. "KATIE! Oh wow, that's amazing! WHOA! OHHHH!" He tipped his head back as the InstaBruiseHealer worked its magic, relieving him of the pain.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

I whipped my head around as best as I could and James raised himself up just enough to see both Kendall and Mom standing in the doorway, looking more than a little alarmed. They must have come into the apartment during one of James's screaming bouts, because I hadn't heard anything.

It also suddenly occurred to me how this must look – and sound. I had James pinned under me on his bed with my hand on his neck, and he was yelling in what could be construed as ecstasy. Oops.

I tried to move, but with the sudden movement, I lost my balance and fell right onto James. Something told me that wasn't going to help our situation.

James caught me before I could go tumbling off him and off the bed, and Kendall crossed the room in three long and furious strides, ready to pull me off his best friend.

"Kendall!" Mom cried. "Don't – let's hear them out, okay? I mean…they're both fully dressed…"

In other words, she was pretty sure that we weren't having sex. That was encouraging.

"But – " Kendall whined.

"Kendall, things probably aren't how they look."

"Thank you!" I cried from where I was still lying right on top of James.

"Katie, get off of James, this isn't helping your situation."

"Yes Mommy," I replied as innocently as I could. I rolled off of James and onto the mattress before swinging my legs over the edge and sliding to the floor.

James sat up and got off his bed as well.

Both Mom and Kendall gasped. "What happened to your face?" Mom demanded.

"We…uh…" James began.

"We ran into Jett in the theater," I said, not stating  _exactly_  where he had showed up, or with who.

"What was he even doing there in the first place?" Kendall demanded. "I thought he only went to movie  _premiers_ , not to actual cinemas."

"He was going to  _Kiss and Tell 3_. He said that one of the actors in the movie is going to be in  _New Town High_ soon."

Kendall shifted a bit. "Was Jo there?"

James and I glanced at each other.

"Uhhh…" he began.

"Well…" I finished.

Kendall ran his fingers awkwardly through his hair, making it stick up in the back. "I see."

"But James, what happened to your face?" Mom pressed on.

"Jett said some stuff about Katie and I…punched him…and we kinda got into a fight…"

"What kind of stuff?" Mom wanted to know.

"My sexual preferences. Apparently I like it really kinky," I piped up.

"I'll kill that son of a bitch!" Kendall roared.

"No you won't, because apparently James already tried that and I'm assuming he walked away alive," Mom said.

"Unfortunately," James growled, clenching his fists.

"So…we were going to discuss what exactly Kendall and I walked in on, so why don't we go out into the living room?" Mom continued on.

"Yeah, and Katie, James, you two have to sit at least a yard away from each other," Kendall informed us.

"That's taking things a little too far sweetie," Mom told him.

"But Mo-om – "

"Kendall – "

"Mom," I interjected, "nothing was going on. I was just trying to get this stuff on James." I held the tube of InstaBruiseHealer up to show Mom and Kendall. "It's not a big deal, I was just helping him out."

"Was that what his screaming and moaning was about?" Kendall asked suspiciously.

"Well, first I was scared of the smell, but when she finally got that crap on me, it helped with the pain," James explained with a shrug.

"That's all that was going on?" Kendall confirmed.

"That's all that was going on," James and I stated together.

"Okay then," Mom said, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go get ready for bed. Goodnight kids."

* * *

**James's POV**

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-!

My eyes flew open at the sounds of someone trying to bang down the front door.

"Who could be at the door at three-thirty in the morning?" Carlos mumbled from his side of the room.

"I don't know," I grumbled back. "But we should probably go check."

I pushed the covers back and crawled out of bed – barely. I nearly fell over when I tried to stand up. I guess Jett did even more damage than what I had thought. I knew he had messed my face up, but the rest of my body felt like a car had rolled over it a couple dozen times.

Carlos, still about ninety percent asleep, didn't even notice, which was probably lucky for me. I didn't feel like explaining what had happened with Jett.

I managed to grab the bat that I knew was leaning against my dresser and held it up, ready to use in self-defense incase there was some creep trying to break in to the apartment. Granted, only very-well mannered creeps knock on the doors before breaking and entering, but they're still creeps nonetheless, and I wasn't taking any chances.

We crept out of the room and into the living room. Kendall, Logan, Katie, and Mrs. Knight were already out there. "Who do you think it is?" Mrs. Knight asked, sounding scared. After since the time right after we first moved here when she thought Buddha Bob was an axe maniac, she's been terrified that a real killer might come after us.

"Well Mom, here's a crazy idea!" Kendall said to her. "Why don't we just open the door and see who it is?"

"Oh…but…"

Kendall bounded forward, grasped the doorknob, and pulled the door open. He stared at whoever it was for a whole ten seconds before calling over his shoulder, "James, it's for you!"

I have to admit, my first thought was that it was a serial killer and Kendall was throwing me to the wolves. So I held the bat up higher and stepped forward, and nearly fell into the wall when I saw who it was. The bat would have come in handy, but unfortunately, you're not supposed to hit psycho ex-girlfriends, because they're, well, girls.

Courtney bounded into the room in all of her over-made up glory, threw her arms around my neck, and kissed me full on the mouth. And I immediately remembered one of the reasons why we had broken up in the first place. She kissed like she was trying to squeeze my lips off.

"Okay, okay, okay!" I cried, pushing her away from me as gently as I could. "You're – you're here! At three-thirty in the morning! Uhhh…why  _are_  you here at three-thirty in the morning?"

She giggled. That was another problem. She was a giggler. And it was creepy. Like stalker, prowler, well-mannered-creeps-who-come-knocking-on-your-front-door-at-three -thirty-in-the-morning kind of creepy.

"You're so silly!" she squealed, playfully hitting me in the chest with the palm of her hand. Ow. Her nails were like talons. "I thought I would show up and see if you wanted to have a  _reunion_."

Mrs. Knight cleared her throat. Bless her. "Uh, Courtney, we're all here, so now would not be a good time for you and James to…uh… _catch up_."

Courtney stuck out her lower lip, pouting. "We could always go to my apartment."

I brushed my hair out of my eyes. "Courtney, it's three-thirty in the morning. I just want to go back to sleep. We'll talk in the morning, okay?"

She let out a huffy sigh, making sure I knew how disgusted she was by my suggestion. " _Fine_. See you in a few hours."

"Goodnight." I dodged out of the way of her mouth and closed the door behind her and locked it. "Maybe it's not too late to book a flight to South America."

Mrs. Knight stepped forward and grasped me by the arms. "James, you need to tell her that you aren't interested in reigniting your relationship, otherwise she'll never leave you alone.

I sighed. "I know. But what if she just continues stalking me? I mean, she showed up here at three-thirty in the morning. Think about it. She's dangerous."

"Then that's when you get a restraining order against her. But until then, just talk to her, explain things to her, and be crystal clear. Don't leave any doubt in her mind that you no longer have feelings for her."

I decided not to mention to Mrs. Knight that I had never really had feelings for Courtney. She was hot. She was up for pretty much anything. In my book, those were the two most important assets a girl could have. But maybe they weren't enough…

Logan stretched and yawned. "I'm going back to bed. 'Night all." And he traipsed back to his and Kendall's room, with Kendall following close behind.

Carlos and Mrs. Knight were also heading back to bed, but I stayed rooted to the spot next to the door. What on earth was I supposed to say to Courtney that I hadn't said to her when we had broken up? What was I supposed to do to get my message through?

"I doubt she's going to be able to get in through the door, considering it's locked, but if it makes you feel better, we can always push the furniture of against it."

I nearly jumped out of my skin, but relaxed when I saw it was only Katie. She hadn't moved from where she had been standing either. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Shouldn't you?" she retorted, crossing her arms. "Come on James, what's going through your mind?"

"I'm just wondering what I'm supposed to say that will make her realize that I don't have feelings for her."

"Just say what you feel, but  _be nice_  about it, because otherwise she might take out her anger on you. If she cares about you at all, she'll let you go." And with that Katie turned around and walked back to her room, leaving me feeling worse than ever, because I hadn't cared about Courtney at all.

Morning – the one with the sun, not the one at three-thirty – came all too soon. The last thing I wanted

was to get out of bed, but I knew I was going to have to sooner or later. After arguing with myself for a good forty-five minutes, I crawled out of bed and was out in the kitchen before 10:30. Katie was the only one still in the apartment. She was sitting on the couch, texting someone, but she looked up when I walked out of my bedroom.

"'Morning," she greeted me. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, once I actually fell asleep."

She nodded in sympathy, but I didn't feel like I deserved it. I was starting to wonder if I was as terrible to girls as, well, Jett. Sure, I didn't make those kinds of lewd comments to them, but I did use them for my own purposes. It had never even crossed my mind before, that maybe this wasn't right or moral, but now I was beginning to wonder just how much of a jackass I actually was. My only consolation was that at least I knew when enough was enough. At least, I think I did. I wasn't even sure about that.

"So Kendall's going to be back in a little while, he just went out to take a walk," Katie began, setting her phone aside.

I nodded as I pulled out a box of a cereal and reached for a bowl. "What's your point?"

"We should tell him that we're fake-dating – hypothetically, I mean, so that he doesn't automatically kill you."

I dumped Cocoa Puffs into the bowl and topped them with milk. "And if he's cool with the idea?"

"Then we tell him the truth."

"And if he hates the idea?"

"We write it off like it was a song idea or something like that."

I had to give her credit – she had put a lot of thought and effort into keeping me alive. But maybe I would rather Kendall kill me. At least then I wouldn't have to face Courtney again.

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly. "But you take the lead, because otherwise I'll just mess it up and I'll find myself being dangled out the window by my feet."

"I think he'd probably just bang your face into the oven door a few dozen times," Katie replied.

"Not helping."

I finished my cereal, showered, and slipped into jeans and a t-shirt.

I had just come out of my room when the front door opened and Kendall walked in.

"Kendall," Katie immediately began. "James and I came up with this idea yesterday – it's all hypothetical, but we were curious as to what your reaction would be."

Kendall cocked an eyebrow, and it was pretty clear that he was suspicious again. This was starting off really well.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

Kendall was already suspicious. That wasn't a very good sign. But what could I say? Oh well, might as well just start off with my original plan.

"So what is this  _hypothetical idea_?" Kendall asked skeptically.

I patted the cushion next to me and he wordlessly sat down. James sat down on his other side and gave him his most charming smile, which just happens to be the one that usually gets his head banged into the wall by a pretty girls' boyfriend. Smart move, James. Very smart.

"Well, we got to talking yesterday after I found out that Kyle asked another girl out. Again. And we were thinking about ways that I could get Kyle to notice me, and we thought – hey, wouldn't it be funny if we pretended to date to get his attention? I mean, it could totally work, and it would add extra punch because it's, you know, James."

"I don't like the idea," Kendall said immediately, not even missing a beat.

James blinked, and the light caught his lashes. I felt my breath catch in my throat and had to remind myself to exhale.

"Why not?" James asked, sounding slightly offended.

Kendall chortled. "Uh, because it's  _you_  dude. You're the one who had a girl nearly breaking down our door at three-thirty AM, and then invite you to spend the rest of the night in her apartment with her. Besides, who would believe it? Katie's not exactly your type. She's too natural."

I was pretty sure he meant that as a compliment.

"Anyway," my brother continued, "people who fake-date always end up falling for each other."

"That only happens in the movies," I protested indignantly. "I would never fall for James just because we pretended to date!" It's true – I had already fallen for him, so it wasn't like I could get a second crush on him.

Kendall shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, this is all hypothetical, right? You two would never actually be as stupid as to pretend to date just so that Katie could catch Kyle's attention, right?"

"Ummm…r-r-r-r-right," James managed to stammer out.

"O-of c-c-course," I stuttered, losing my usual cool posterior.

Kendall nodded. "Good. I'm glad we've got that cleared up." He stood up and stretched out his legs.

"By the way, how was the movie? Was  _A Fairy Love Story_  as cheesy as it sounds?"

"Oh, yeah, totally cheesy," I bluffed. "I won't be buying it when it comes out onto DVD."

Kendall nodded. "Well, I'm starving, so I think I'll have lunch. You guys want anything?"

"No, I'm good," I said quickly and leapt to my feet. "I'm going to go and tan out by the pool."

"I'll come with you," James volunteered. "See ya later, Kendall!"

We changed into our swimsuits and were out of the apartment so fast we nearly crashed into our next door neighbor who was on her way back from the elevator, carrying about twenty different shopping bags.

It was our first time in the middle of the Palmwoods community after we had announced to Kyle that we were 'dating'. Hopefully he wouldn't be out there and we wouldn't have to worry about looking like a couple in love while trying to act like platonic friends. I was not looking forward to having to balance the two out.

We were fortunate for the moment – there was no sign of Kyle or Scarlett anywhere, so we took our regular seats in the lounge chairs by the edge of the pool.

Before we could start a casual conversation, however, Courtney came hurtling out of nowhere and literally flung herself right on top of James. He winced as she fell onto his two-hundred or so bruises.

"Courtney – Courtney – Courtney – Courtney –COURTNEY!" James cried. "Ow – ow –ow – "

Courtney picked herself off of James's stomach and instead sat herself in his lap. I saw him freeze. "Oh, I'm so sorry baby, I didn't realize you were so bruised. What happened? Do you want me to kiss them better for you?"

I had been amused up until that point but the moment she said that I began looking around for a bucket to vomit in.

"No, Courtney, I'm fine. Listen, we need to talk – "

"Yes we do," Courtney said, nodding. As she bobbed her head her curly blond hair bounced with her. She readjusted her bikini and her face became serious.

"You do know we're not actually dating, don't you?" James began. "I mean, we broke up. And sitting in my lap is not normal behavior."

"But baby, I want you back," Courtney whined. "I love you."

I gasped and quickly covered my mouth with my hand. Did she really love him? And if she did, then what did that mean for him? I hoped more than anything at that moment that he would let her down gently, and not just throw her off of him like a dead spider. He wasn't a cruel person by nature, but he

could get harsh with girls who clung to him after he was done with them.

Like it was their fault. He was so sweet and charming to them that they just couldn't help but think that he was  _the one_ , and then when he broke up with them, they immediately wondered what they had done wrong. And he had no idea the effect he had on them.

"Courtney," James said gently, taking her hands in his, "I care about you, I really do, but I'm not in love with you. I'm sorry. You're a great girl, but I'm not the one for you."

Wow. That was actually pretty amazing. I didn't know he had it in him to be so tender.

"I mean," he continued on, "maybe if things were different. I'm kind of dating someone else now – "

Wait – WHAT? Did he mean ME? He was aware we weren't actually dating, right? And that we weren't supposed to be announcing it to the public either?

" – So maybe we can just be friends," he finished up with flash of his signature charming smile.

Courtney didn't look very charmed. She stood up and towered over him, literally shaking with rage. "Were you  _cheating_  on me?" she demanded.

James looked shocked. "Of course not! I'm just…"

"Who  _is_  she?"

James glanced at me and I had to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. Looking at me after his psycho ex-girlfriend had asked that was, quite possibly, the stupidest thing he could have done.

"Is it  _her_?" Courtney pointed accusingly at me.

"O-o-of course not!" James protested, but he wasn't very convincing. "I mean, she's my best friend's little sister!"

"That doesn't mean anything!" Courtney spat.

"We're not dating!" I cried.

Courtney turned fierce eyes on me. "Something's going on between you two, and I can see it. And I'm going to find out what's going on." And with that cheerful declaration, she turned on her heel and stalked off.

I exchanged glances with James. The look on his face showed that he knew how badly he had just messed up. But that didn't change what he had just done. The extent of his damage piled down to four words:

We were so screwed.

 


	6. He Likes Me, He Likes Me Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter! :)

**James's POV**

I don't know what I was thinking when I told Courtney I was [dating](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7095392/6/Hot-Water) someone else. I really don't. I'd done some pretty stupid things in the last twenty-four hours, but that one topped them all. I guess all I had wanted at that moment was for Courtney to leave me alone, and to not walk away with hurt feelings. Unfortunately, I managed to lead her right to Katie.

And you know what the irony of the situation was? I wasn't even dating Katie! I wasn't dating anyone! So Courtney was going to be trying to uncover a relationship that wasn't even a real relationship.

That was really messed up.

I was brought back to my senses by a hard blow to my head, courtesy of Katie Knight, AKA, my fake-girlfriend.

"OW!" I yelped out.

"Are you  _crazy_? Do you  _want_  Kendall to bang your head against the oven door? Do you  _want_  to admit to the entire world that you are fake-dating your best friend's little sister? Is there even a  _brain_  under that perfectly groomed hair?"

I would have been really insulted if she hadn't mentioned my hair. "Really?" I asked brightly, combing my fingers through my hair. "You think my hair is perfectly groomed?"

Katie face palmed. " _That's_  what you choose to focus on? Not on the damage that you have just done, but on what I said about your  _hair_?"

I crossed my arms defensively. "Hey, I believe in focusing on the positive."

"Good for you. In the meantime, you better hope that Courtney is a terrible spy, because otherwise we're going to be out-ed as a fake-couple and, besides ensuring that I lose any chance I may have with Kyle and that you end up in the hospital, it'll just be plain humiliating."

I nodded. It would be humiliating – for both of us. Kyle wouldn't want to have anything to do with her if he found out what was going on, and I would probably end up with the horrible reputation of not being able to get myself an actual girlfriend.

"Well, I didn't exactly date her for her brain, so we're probably safe," I assured her.

"But she is the jealous type," Katie reminded me.

"Doesn't mean much. She's probably already hitting on Guitar Dude or someone. I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

"Famous last words, James," she muttered. "Famous last words."

I jinxed it. I knew I did. And jinxes sure get put into motion fast, because literally five seconds after Katie stopped talking, Kyle and Scarlett emerged from the lobby.

Katie groaned. "Oh no. Now we have to look like we're in love. Ummm…put your arm around me."

I obeyed without a second thought and prayed that every single person who we knew would stay inside today and not look out their apartment windows.

Katie snuggled up to me and laid her head against my chest. Immediately my heart began beating faster and I couldn't figure out why. It made no sense that Kendall's little sister could have this effect on me.

I ran my fingers through her hair and pressed my lips to her hair, like I had done last night in the movie theater. I could feel her steady breathing and could tell that she was relaxed, even though she was putting on a major performance.

"Hi Katie, hi James!" Kyle chirped out once he reached us.

Katie sat up a bit and managed to turn to give him a glowing smile. "Oh, hey Kyle, hey Scarlett."

Scarlett smirked and peered at us over her Gucci sunglasses as she and Kyle sat down in chairs on Katie's other side. "So how was the movie?"

I needed to do some damage control, so I grinned. "It was good…at least what we saw of it…" I let my voice trail off with suggestion and I could tell Katie was blushing, even though my implication had never even happened. But hey, it added to the situation.

Scarlett giggled. "Ohhhh…I see."

Kyle nodded but his cheery mood seemed to have slipped away. That was a good sign for Katie, and the realization that Kyle didn't seem very happy at the idea of Katie and me spending most of the movie making out definitely uplifted her mood. Plus, it apparently gave her inspiration. She placed her hand on my thigh and said, "Babe, could you help with my sun lotion? I don't want to get sunburned."

I nodded, not quite able to think with her hand on my thigh – did she even  _think_  about where she was placing her hand? – and she handed me the bottle of sun lotion. I popped the cap off of the bottle and squirted some of the pineapple-mango scented lotion onto my hand. She finally took her hand from my leg and turned around, but as she did so, her eyes caught mine and she smirked. Had she just repaid me for the insinuation of what had happened at the theater? Or was she simply playing with me, or had she really not thought about what she was doing, but realized it and decided that it just made us look move convincing? Well, I definitely wasn't going to be asking her about it, that was for sure.

She lifted her hair up, exposing her neck, and my heart began beating faster. What was wrong with me? My body was acting like I was  _attracted_  to her or something! And I knew I wasn't. How could I be? She was Kendall's little sister, and therefore, she was my little sister. And I wasn't into incest. And that's what it would be, right, if I was suddenly, completely out of the blue, attracted to her? I mean sure, she's pretty, but she's not my type, and like I said, she's practically my sister. But she was a cute girl, so

of course I was going to react like a normal guy. It wasn't really a big deal. It was just hormones, and it had nothing to do with my feelings. And why did I even assume it had to do with feelings? Shit. I'm going crazy.

I gently massaged the lotion into Katie's skin, being sure to get all of her back, shoulders, and neck. Kyle was looking beyond pissed off by now, while Scarlett just sat beside him with her phone out, texting someone.

"Wow, James, you're really taking your time with that," Kyle commented. The words themselves were harmless, but the way he said it gave me the impression that he was wishing he was in my place. Perfecto. But why was he just starting to act like this now? If he really cared about Katie, wouldn't he have asked her out before? Maybe he was just one of those freaks who get's overprotective of their girl friends. You know the type – they can like and date other girls, but the girls can't like and date other boys. Or maybe he just wasn't thrilled about seeing a guy – an older guy with a reputation for being a player nonetheless – rubbing sun lotion into his best friend's back. Maybe that was it. Maybe.

I grinned over at him. "Hey, you can never be too careful with precious things." Wow. Had I just said that? I was starting to sound almost… _romantic_. That was a scary thought.

"Ahhhh," Scarlett cooed, rubbing her hand up and down Kyle's arm. "Isn't that so sweet, Kyle-Liger?"

_Liger_?

Katie coughed into her hand, and her body was now shaking from suppressed giggles.

"Yeah, Scarlett-Rabbit, it's adorable." Kyle said  _adorable_  as if it was a type of poisonous mushroom. He was definitely jealous.

"By the way," Katie broke in, the humor in her voice very clear, "your nicknames for each other are just so damn cute! Liger…that's sheer genius."

Kyle blushed. "Oh yeah?" he shot back at her. "In that case what are yours and James's nicknames for each other?"

Katie flashed him a wide smile. "Those names are strictly for private uses only. I'm not into PDA, remember? The same goes for pet names."

Nice save. I had to give the girl credit, she was good at what she did.

I finished rubbing the lotion into her back and dipped my hands in the pool to the remains off of my fingers.

Scarlett stretched and yawned. "I just realized – I completely forgot my phone. I'm just gonna run upstairs and grab. Be right back!"

I continued running my fingers through the water. It felt good, kind of like running through a sprinkler on a hot day.

"Are you sure you guys are together?" Kyle asked. When I looked up, his eyes were on me, and they were smoldering with…anger? Jealousy? The need for revenge? Something passionate, that was for sure. "I mean, you guys wouldn't be pretending to be together to make someone…jealous…now would you?"

I could almost feel Katie clamp up beside me. And how dare he ask that? Was it really so hard to believe that Katie and I could like each other? That Katie could catch my attention and I could catch hers? I was sure there was an underlying insult hidden there, aimed at both of us, and so I straightened up in my seat and turned to stare Kyle down.

"And who would we try to make jealous?" I demanded.

Kyle shifted in his chair and looked down at the ground. "I don't know…maybe me?"

Oh no he didn't! Did he really have such a huge ego that he would just automatically jump to conclusions?

"Actually, Kyle…" now Katie sounded nervous, and she was twisting her fingers together. She was going to tell him. I knew she was going to tell him. And he was acting like such a jackass about this whole thing that I was sure he would just rip her apart. Couldn't she see that? Was she so blind that she couldn't see what an egotistical pig he was being?

So I did the only thing I could do. I saved her ass. Again.

"Why would Katie try to make you jealous?" I asked as if it confused me, which, at this moment, it kind of did. "You two are just friends, right?"

Kyle blinked slowly, which I was guessing he did when he was thrown off balance, before saying, "Yeah, of course! Duh. Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Too much sun, I guess. I think I'll go and find Scarlett. Maybe we can go and catch  _Kiss and Tell 3_  without her brother walking in on us. See you guys later." And with that he got to his feet and headed off into the hotel. Katie watched him go, frowning.

"Do you think he knows?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, he would've if you had told him. Want my opinion?"

"No."

"He's egotistical."

"So are you."

"But I would never think that you were dating someone else to make me jealous," I pointed out.

She bit her lip. "Maybe he's just jealous."

"That thought did cross my mind," I admitted. "But it still doesn't make any sense. Has he ever shown

any interest in you before?"

Katie stared down at the concrete ground and shook her head, her bottom lip trembling, and I knew she was trying not to cry. That gave me my answer.

"Come on Batie-Bear," I said, and scooped her up, carrying her into a deserted part of the Palmwoods Park. I set her gently on the ground and sat down next to her, putting my arm around her. "Come on sweetie, tell me what's wrong."

"It just doesn't make any sense!" she cried and she buried her face in my chest, her body shuddering with sobs. I pulled her into my lap so that she would be more comfortable.

"What doesn't?" I asked patiently, stroking her hair gently.

"Why he's suddenly acting like he likes me, when he's never shown any sign of interest."

"But isn't this what you wanted?" I reminded her.

"Yes! But it's happening too fast! It was supposed to take a while. But it's happened immediately! And he was so excited for me when he thought I liked someone! Is he just upset because he thinks I found someone? Does he really like me but always hid it really well? What's going on?"

I paused, thinking. What was going on? Could it have anything to do with me? If Kyle was excited for her before…maybe he wasn't jealous…maybe he just simply didn't like me.

"Maybe it's not you," I said softly, wondering how much comfort this would be to her. "Maybe it's me."

She pulled back. Her face was tear streaked and her eyes were red and puffy, but she was still so beautiful. And that was a weird thought. Something to focus on later…

"Maybe he doesn't like me," I suggested gently. "Because he knows what I'm like and he's worried I'll use you."

Katie turned away, staring off into the distance. "That makes more sense," she said. "He was suspicious from the very first moment you said we were dating. He knows you would never date me – he should know. You two are into the same type of girls."

"Katie – "

"I mean, look at Courtney. Look at Scarlett. They're both bimbo blondes. They look like they hired Pamela Anderson's plastic surgeon to fix their chests. They probably weigh less than me. They're experienced, and I've never even had an actual boyfriend. So it's no wonder he's suspicious."

"Katie – " I tried again, but she didn't even seem to be listening.

"James, maybe we should just call this whole thing off. It's not fooling him, and he wouldn't give a damn anyway, except he knows you're out of my league."

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe she had just said that. She was not out of my league! She just wasn't my type. She was Kendall's little sister for heaven's sake! And I couldn't fathom that such a self-confident girl could tear herself down so easily.

"That's not – "

"James, I'm serious. When I see Kyle next, I'll tell him you broke up with me. Then you don't have to deal with this, Courtney won't try to kill us, and we won't have to lie to everyone anymore."

And before I could stop her or say anything to change her mind, she got up off my lap and took off towards the Palmwoods parking lot. Something told me Mrs. Knight's car was going to be taken out for a spin. But wait…Mrs. Knight was at her new job…And the BTR mobile was currently being used by Logan, Carlos, and Kendall. Logan had wanted to see the new exhibit at the science center, but hadn't wanted to go alone. Kendall and Carlos had agreed to go as long as they could hang back and make jokes about the wonders of science to each other. I had opted out, obviously, to hang with Katie. Plus, anything that involves science gives me a headache.

So both cars had been taken, which meant that Katie would have to go back to the apartment. Maybe she was already headed in that direction.

So I picked myself up and began walking towards the hotel.

As I walked, I tried to convince myself that calling off the plan would be for the best. I mean, it was only the second day, and already we had two (maybe three, depending on Kendall's mood at the moment) suspicious people, one of whom was trying to prove that we were together; my body felt like I had been run over by a dump truck; and I couldn't keep track of all the lies we had already had to tell. So maybe just quitting while we were ahead (or behind, in this case) was a good idea. But I didn't want to. After Kyle's comments, after seeing how upset Katie was, how much Kyle was capable of confusing her, just made me want to prove to him that he was missing out on something spectacular.

Katie was beyond special. She was wonderful. She was beautiful, smart, funny, clever, and so amazingly sweet when she wanted to be. She had been the best friend to Kyle she could possibly be, while trying to hide her crush from him, and every single time, he knocked her down. Yesterday hadn't been the first time he had blown her off for one of his girlfriends. Yet she was always there for him, always smiling through the tears when he needed girl advice. How she did it, I couldn't imagine. All I could think was that she was a lot tougher than what I had originally thought, and I had always imagined her to be the equivalent of a small army.

And with a jolt, I realized I had never given her crush on Kyle much thought. I had never asked her how she was dealing with Kyle dating this girl, or let her know that if she needed to talk to someone, she could talk to me. I cared, I knew that much. But I had always been so absorbed with myself and the band and whatever new girl I was screwing – both figuratively and literally – that I had begun to pull away from her. Up until yesterday, she had been in this battle all alone.

But she wasn't alone anymore. She had me. And I was going to make sure that Kyle realized just how

out of Katie's league  _he_  was. How dare he treat her like crap for so long! It had obviously had an effect on her. Her confidence was a lot lower than what I had always thought. And that was just wrong.

I didn't even look around the lobby when I walked in; I just kept stalking towards the elevators.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

I couldn't believe I had just said all that to James. I couldn't believe I had let my façade slip so far down. But I guess I had reached my breaking point.

James was right. Kyle didn't have feelings for me. He just didn't like James, for whatever reason. He had in the beginning, when we were younger, but as we had grown up, James had become really bad when it came to girls. But now…was Kyle any better? I had always assumed that he was, but now I was wondering. He chose the exact same type of girl as James, and tended to dump them within a couple of months. How had I ended up attracted to the same type of boy?

But James was better. James could tell when something was wrong. He had never asked me to get lost just because a hot girl was coming his way. He treated me with respect. I couldn't remember the last time I felt like Kyle valued my opinion. And it bothered me. It bothered me beyond measure.

I had been heading towards the parking lot, because I had my keys with me and I was craving a nice, long drive, but halfway to the parking lot, I realized that Mom had the car. Damn. I really needed my own car.

So I turned around, and wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I walked back to the hotel. James was nowhere in sight, which was a huge relief to me, because I wasn't sure I could face him. I was beyond humiliated at how much I had dumped on him back in the park. He probably thought I was an insecure basket-case by now.

As I passed through the lobby, I didn't see anyone else who I was friendly with, so I just kept on going.

Instead of taking the elevator, I climbed the stairs to the second floor, and slammed into the apartment.

There was silence, so I figured I was by myself.

But being completely alone was even worse. Immediately, my brain went into overdrive, and I couldn't stop it. I swear, there were voices – or more accurately, one voice – that was cold, cunning, and manipulative, and it was talking to me, telling me everything that was wrong with me:

_You were stupid to ever think that Kyle could ever look at you the way he looks at Scarlett._

_Of course you're out of James's league – he's hot, and you're not._

_You'll always be like the little sister – what guy would ever look at a tomboy who doesn't even have beauty to give her an edge?_

_You're just convenient to Kyle, and always will be, until he moves onto bigger and better things._

_And James? HAH! He's probably laughing his head off right now at how long it took you to figure out where you stand with both him and Kyle. Or else he's already in bed with some new girl. Either way, he'll never see you the way you want him to see you._

"STOP!" Oh wow. Had I screamed that out loud? "I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON JAMES!"

_Keep telling yourself that, honey. Just keep on fooling yourself. You're so good at it – you actually convinced yourself that Kyle would ever want to be with you._

And that was the last straw – I burst into tears and dove into my room, banging my door shut as hard as I could, and throwing myself on my bed. I grabbed the nearest pillow and stuffed it violently over my ears, trying to drown out that horrible voice.

It didn't work though. It kept on repeating that I had been fooling myself about Kyle, and that James would never respect me again.

My body was shaking with sobs, and I was gasping for breath, whimpering, "No…no…no…" over and over again.

"Katie."

"No…no…no…no…no…"

I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

"Batie-Bear…" and James pulled me into a sitting position, removing the pillow from my ears, and enfolding me in his arms. Just like out in the park, I cried into his shirt for what felt like ages. The entire time he just held me, occasionally pressing his lips to my hair. I clutched at him, wishing that I could stay in his arms forever, wishing that the fake-dating had been real, wishing that the last day hadn't been just a scheme.

At last, I began to calm down enough to stop crying, but James didn't let me go. He stroked my hair softly, his chin resting on my head, neither of us saying anything. It was peaceful and quiet and perfect. Well, almost perfect.

Finally, James let me go enough to look down in my face. "How the hell could you say that you're out of my league?" he asked. "That's not true, and I think we both know it. If anything  _I'm_ out of _your_ league. Have you not forgotten the disaster with Courtney? The million other girls I've used?"

I swiped at my eyes. "But you're…you're a much better person than what you give yourself credit for."

"I'm not a good person around some people," James said softly. "If you hadn't told me to be nice to Courtney, I'm not sure what I might have said to her. You're a much better person than I could ever be."

"So I have a wonderful personality," I scoffed. "Thanks James. That's the kiss of death."

I looked away from him pointedly, crossing my arms across my chest, but James gently slipped his middle and index fingers under my chin and turned my face back to his.

"You're beautiful Katie. Inside and out. If Kyle was worth your time, he would have figured that out by now."

"It doesn't matter," I said, sighing. "I fooled myself into believing that he liked me, when it was so obvious that he didn't. He just doesn't like  _you_."

"He could have told you that he doesn't approve of me, instead of sending you mixed signals," James replied, frowning. "He didn't have to insinuate that this whole thing is a fake."

"He knows I like him," I said blankly as the shock hit me. "He must. Why else would he ask that?"

"It would be a pretty lame joke," James agreed.

We fell into silence, but it didn't last for very long.

"Well, if he thinks that you like him, then we'll just have to prove him wrong," James said determinedly.

"But I'm not even sure how much I like him," I told him. "I mean, up until a half hour ago I was completely smitten, but now I'm beginning to think that he treats girls worse than you do. At least you know how to respect me. I'm not even sure Kyle can say that much."

James waved that thought aside. "Oh, I'm sure he does, otherwise he would just ignore you. You two are friends. No, you know what really pisses me off?"

"What?"

"The way he just acts like you're always going to be there. That might be another reason why he's so upset about you 'dating' me. He's realizing that you're not always going to have time for him, the same way he hasn't always had time for you."

"So what do we do?"

"We continue on pretending to date. It's the only thing we can do."

"But – but – that's going to continue complicating things," I stuttered out. "Is it really worth it?"

James stared into my eyes. "After what I heard him say today Katie, after watching him for years just shun you aside, it will be more than worth it."

"But we're already in a huge mess – "

"Last time our intentions were different – you were trying to make Kyle jealous. This time around, it's revenge. It's showing him that he can't use you. Because that's what he is, Katie. He's a user. Even with the one girl who he refuses to date. I'm betting he has a tendency to make almost everything about him. If I asked him what your favorite flavor of ice cream is, he wouldn't know. He'd probably say

vanilla or something, when it' – "

" – A mixture of everything!" we finished together.

"Exactly," James said with a triumphant grin. "So we're going to make him regret that he ever thought he could treat you like crap."

"He probably doesn't even know he's doing it," I muttered.

"No, he probably doesn't," James agreed. "But he is, and he needs to realize that either he's going to have to change his ways, or live a sorry and miserable life without your friendship – or your heart."

"He's never going to like me," I insisted.

"People change," James replied. "He might. For all we know, he's just been waiting for you to stand up to him. Who knows? By this time next week, he could be eating out of your hand."

Maybe James believed it, but I didn't.

James reached around to my nightstand and grabbed a tissue from the box. He wiped the tearstains from my cheeks and smiled. "How are you feeling?"

I had James on my side. We had a plan. And James thought I was beautiful.

I grinned back at him. "A lot better. Thanks."

His smile widened. "No problem. We're friends. I'll help you no matter what, and don't you ever forget it."

"I won't," I promised.

"Good. So what do you want to do now?"

"Can we just hang out in the apartment?" I requested.

James nodded. "Of course. In fact…" he glanced at his watch. "They've got a Buffy the Vampire marathon starting in about fifteen minutes. I don't suppose you'd want to watch – "

I was up and running out of there. "WHAT CHANNEL?"

James followed me, laughing. "I think I'll let you figure that one out yourself."

It was pretty easy to find the channel – it's called a TV guide. And soon enough, James and I were settling down on the couch to watch reruns of old Buffy episodes. But the peace and quiet didn't last for very long. Does it ever?

There was a knock on our front door. James and I glanced in alarm at each other. The last time someone had come to our door had been at three-thirty this morning.

"I'll get it," James volunteered, getting up from his spot on the couch. He crossed the room and opened the door. He stared at whoever it was for several seconds before turning his head to call to me,

"Katie, sweetie, it's for you!"

Kyle.

I stood up and joined James at the door, facing my best friend. James slipped his arm around my waist and I leaned into him subconsciously. Hmmm…this could be fun…

"Hey!" I said cheerfully. "What're you doing here?"

Kyle shuffled his feet a little awkwardly. "You weren't answering your phone, and I kind of needed to talk to you."

"What do you want to talk to me about?" I asked easily, as if I hadn't spent a good half hour crying my eyes out over him and his player's ways.

"Can we go someplace private?" Kyle shot his eyes at James and James immediately stepped back as if to say he wouldn't interfere.

"We could do my room," I suggested.

Kyle nodded. "That'll work."

He followed me to my bedroom and I closed the door gently.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. Kyle sat himself on my bed and I slipped into my desk chair.

"James."

"Okay. What about him?"

"I'm worried about you. I mean, come on Katie, you know what he's like!  _Kiss and Tell 3 on the first date_? I mean,  _really_?"

I bristled at his comment. "Uh, remind me Kyle, my memory's a little fuzzy – weren't you at  _Kiss and Tell 3_ with Scarlett? And wasn't that your guys' first date?"

Kyle shifted as if he was uncomfortable with the situation. "Well…yeah…but…that doesn't count!"

"How?" I cried, getting to my feet. "How the hell does that not count? You barely know her!"

Kyle leapt up as well and faced me, face livid and eyes blazing. "At least  _I_  don't go around fucking every girl who walks by me. At least I'm not screwing my best friend's little sister!"

"I'm not having sex with James!" I cried.

"Oh yeah?" Kyle shot back. "Then why is  _his_  phone on  _your_  bed?" He held up James's black iPhone. It looked like every other black iPhone, except one of James's many headshots served as the background wallpaper. Ooh. His phone must have fallen out of his pocket when he was comforting me earlier.

"Because we were talking in here earlier," I retorted calmly. "Trust me, Kyle, it's not what it looks like?"

"Your hand was on his thigh earlier, down at the pool," Kyle countered.

"I can think of at least one other place it could have been," I replied.

"And Jett Stetson's telling everyone that he caught you and James getting it on in the movie theater bathrooms."

"And since when do you believe  _Jett Stetson_?" I asked incredulously. "I know he's Scarlett's brother, but he's kind of a sleaze ball."

"That doesn't mean anything," Kyle informed me.

I placed my hands on my hips and marched right up to him, standing on my tip-toes so we were eye-to-eye. "Tell me something, Kyle Margolis. Why are you so determined to believe that I'm sleeping with James? What on earth gives you the idea that I would ever let him in my bed? Tell me Kyle, because I'm curious."

"Because…because…"

"I'm waiting."

"Because he doesn't go out with girls if they won't sleep with him!" he burst out.

Oh. That was true.

"I guess I'm the exception," I replied. "Honestly, I can't  _believe_  you're taking  _Jett Stetson's_  word over mine. We're supposed to be best friends. Whatever happened to that, huh?"

"Well – I – "

"Uh huh. Whatever Kyle."

But he had a rebuttal ready. Granted, it sucked. But it was still a rebuttal nonetheless.

"How do I know you're not having sex with James?"

"I don't know, Kyle. You're just going to have to take my word for it."

"You used to like him," he accused. "Come on, Katie, I know you did."

"That's a really lousy reason," I informed him.

"Hey, people do all sorts of crazy things for the people they love."

Tell me about it.

"I mean, for all I know, a couple of nights ago he came to you and asked if you'd mind cuddling with him and then – "

"I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH JAMES!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "And this discussion is done. I would like you to leave, please."

I marched across the room and threw open my door to find James standing right outside, with Logan, Carlos, and…Kendall…Oh. That's not good.

* * *

**James's POV**

I would just like to make one thing very clear – I never eavesdrop on anyone. Well, okay, hardly ever. Well, maybe once in awhile. Every now and then. Whenever someone's hiding something from me. But it's not like I make a  _habit_  out of it! And under normal circumstances, I could have just left Katie and Kyle alone. And I did. Technically.

I stood outside Katie's bedroom door with my ear pressed against the wood. It sounded like they arguing about  _Kiss and Tell 3_ …Hmmm…maybe I'd gotten her all upset over nothing. Maybe Kyle really was jealous.

"…At least  _I_  don't go around fucking every girl who walks by me. At least I'm not screwing my best friend's little sister!" I heard Kyle roar.

Ummm… _excuse_  me?

"I'm not having sex with James!" Katie retorted.

"Then why is  _his_  phone on  _your_  bed?"

Oh. My bad. I guess my phone fell of my pocket when I was in there earlier.

The front door suddenly swung open and Kendall, Logan, and Carlos trampled in. Katie and Kyle apparently hadn't heard them come in though, because they were still arguing about whether or not Katie and I were having sex.

"What are you – " Kendall began, but I held my hand up and put my fingers to my lips.

"Kyle's in there, and they're arguing," I explained softly, just as Kyle said,

"Your hand was on his thigh earlier, down at the pool."

Luckily, Kendall, Carlos, and Logan were standing back and recounting one of their adventures at the Science Center, otherwise I might have been getting my face smashed against the floor.

"I can think of at least one other place it could have been," I heard Katie retort coolly. Nice.

"And Jett Stetson's telling everyone that he caught you and James getting it on in the movie theater bathrooms."

Wait – WHAT?

My jaw must have dropped and my eyes must have been burning because all three of my friends stepped forward.

"What? What did they say?" Kendall demanded.

I held up my hand, trying to listen, but Logan began talking.

"Why are you even listening to them in the first place?"

"Because Kyle might say something to hurt Katie," I replied.

"Come on, James," Kendall said with an eye roll. "This is Katie we're talking about. Nothing can hurt her."

I smiled bitterly. "You'd be surprised at what can knock her down."

"Yeah, but Kyle? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"You're overreacting. I'm supposed to be the big bro – "

"I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH JAMES!" Katie suddenly screamed out, and we all spun back to face her bedroom door. She wrenched the door open and her jaw dropped.

"Oh, hey guys. How was the science center?" she asked, making a really terrible attempt of acting nonchalant.

"Katie, why does Kyle think you're having sex with James?" Kendall asked through gritted teeth.

"Uh, because it's all over the place," Kyle said in a duh-voice. "Jett Stetson said he walked in on them at the movie theaters, in the bathroom."

"Yeah, that's not sanitary," Logan piped up. The rest of us turned to glare at him, and he shrugged weakly. "I'm just saying."

"That never happened!" Katie cried, sounding exasperated. "It's just a stupid rumor. Jett's just pissed because James kicked his ass."

James smirked. "I did kick his ass pretty good."

"Any other reason?" Kendall demanded of Kyle.

"James's phone was on her bed," Kyle replied.

"I can explain that," I quickly spoke up. "We were in there earlier –  _just talking_! – and my phone must have fallen out of my pocket."

Kendall let out a long sigh. "Honestly, we're going to have to start setting some ground rules for you two. Kyle, get out of here, go do whatever it is you do."

Kyle nodded and hurried out, smirking at me as he passed through the front door.

"Now, I'm going to rest and recuperate from walking around all day," Kendall said. "And then I'm going to go, find Jett, and kick the crap out of him. Excuse me." And he headed into his bedroom.

Logan shook his head. "How do you two end up in these situations?"

"A little too easily," I replied. At this point, I didn't care that Kyle might have just told Kendall all of that because he wanted Katie and me broken up. I didn't give a damn. I really didn't –

Katie had gone into her room, but she came out, carrying her phone. She held it up so that I could see the text on it. It was from Kyle:  **Sorry K, but I had 2 do it. He's no good 4 u. Please forgive me? 3 :)**

Katie looked at me, and I stared back at her.

Logan and Carlos headed into Carlos's room, arguing about some constellation or other, and I turned to Katie.

"He's jealous."

"So jealous."

"Do you want to continue with this?"

"Hell yeah, until I can get him to say that he's jealous and that he likes me."

"And do  _you_  still like  _him_?" For some reason, just that question made my stomach twist into knots.

Katie stared down at that text. "I think I could find it in my heart to. After all, we do crazy things for the people we care about. And that's what Kyle was doing."

And with that, still gazing at her phone, she went back into her room, leaving me to wonder how someone so clever could be so stupid when it came to boys.


End file.
